Dennis Allen did not waste any time in beginning to assemble his coaching staff. He hired Greg Knapp as offensive coordinator one day after he was named head coach, and began interviewing for the defensive coordinator position immediately.
His first interview was of former Niner and Charger defensive coordinator Greg Manusky. Thursday, Manusky's name was taken out of contention for the position as he was hired by Chuck Pagano to be the next defensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts. This, however, has not appeared to discourage Allen, as on the same day word broke of Manusky's hire, word also broke of another candidate for the Raiders defensive coordinator position.
According to Steve Corkran, the Raiders are interested in Green Bay Packers' cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt Jr. for the vacant defensive coordinator position. Whitt has been with the Packers since 2008. When McCarthy overhauled the defensive coaching staff after the 2008 season, Whitt was one of only two coaches who kept their jobs, Dom Capers was the other. In fact, not only did he keep his job, he was given a promotion from defensive quality control coach to cornerbacks coach.
Whitt is a fairly young coach. He graduated college in 2001 and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Auburn, where he played as a walk-on wide receiver. Whitt got his first NFL coaching opportunity in 2007, when he was hired by the Atlanta Falcons.
This is a candidate that scares me a bit. Having a young and fairly inexperienced head coach causes concern. However, having a veteran staff would ease a lot of that concern. This is not the type of hire that would ease concern about Dennis Allen for Raiders fans.