[Blade]

It had been a whirlwind month already. It has started with the interviewing of new candidates for staffing. I knew that Eric Washington had to go, he was just too old and did not have an eye for talent. I had interviewed two candidates, and I am happy that I was able to get Gino, even though he was my second choice.

The conversation with Eric had gone relatively well. I let him know that we would not be rehiring him, and he acted as if he had known it was coming. I think, deep down, he was ready for retirement anyway. The other two decisions, and discussions, had not gone as well.

First there was the Defensive Coordinator position. I thought that Louie was a decent DC, but I was not too sure about his philosophy, and he was not very good at dealing with the secondary. Looking at who was available, I immediately interviewed Mel, as I had heard good things through the grapevine. The interview went very well, as we talked for two hours about defensive systems, what had happened while he was with the Saints, and why he would be interested in working with us. I offered him a contract, and it did not take long for him to accept.

I tried to bring Louie in for a meeting so that I could let him know that we would not be offering him a new contract, but he was unable to come in. I did talk to him on the phone, though, and he was not happy. Our conversation had gone something like this:

Me: “Hi Louie. I wanted you to come in to the office so we could talk, but I understand you are not able to come by.”

Louie: “Nope. I have some engagements that I have to attend to. What did you want?”

Me: “I wanted to thank you for your work with us, but that we would not be offering you a new contract.”

There was silence on the line for a few moments.

Louie: “Why the Hell not? I did what I could with this team, and we did better than we should have!”

Me: “We did well, Louie, but our defence was one of the lowest rated in the league. That may be the main reason we did not go further last year.”

Louie was upset, and the anger shone through.

Louie: “What the Hell did you expect? You traded off our best corner, then we had to deal with injuries all damn year! And your solution was to bring in players who couldn’t even make a team after training camp!”

Me: “Louie, we did what we could. There is not a magic tree growing great defensive players, just waiting for us to grab one when there is a need. I tried to bring in the most talented players available, and guys who would mesh well with the players we had.”

Louie: “Screw you, Blade. You did jack all. It was like you were trying to screw me over all along. Go to Hell.”

Click. The line went dead.

Not a fun call to have, but I did what had to be done. I had to move on to other things, though, as I had lined up interviews with three other people who were candidates to become our Head Coach. Once I met with Brent, I knew I had found the man for the job. Our interview went very well, as he had come to the meeting prepared with a playbook and gameplan taking into account the players we already had in the organization. He also had a list of wants and desires, and what he would do when he took over the team. The interview went for three or four hours, and it was one of the best conversations I had ever had. During the conversation, I talked a little bit about my desires for the team, and some of the changes I was thinking about making, and he seemed to share a similar mind. As soon as the interview was over, I offered him a contract.

He was happy about the offer, but opted to take his time in deciding. I believe he interviewed for a couple other teams, then finally decided to take our offer.

Once Brent signed on, I was able to call Jorge in for a face-to-face discussion. Our conversation went a little bit better, but was still not easy to have.

Me: “Jorge, thank you for coming in. First off, I want to thank you for the work you put in for us last year. You did a good job, all things considered.”

Jorge: “Thanks Barrett. And I am looking forward to continuing what we have going, and having a better year next year. In fact, I have some ideas…”

Me: “Jorge, that is why I called you in. Unfortunately, we will not be offering you a new contract.”

Jorge sat stunned for a minute. Finally, he was able to speak again.

Jorge: “What? Why?”

Me: “We just feel that we need to move in a new direction. There will be some changes coming to this team, and we just want the right people in place.”

Jorge: “And why do I not fit into that?”

Me: “Well, first off, we want to bring in a strong defensive philosophy. Let’s face it, Jorge, that is not your background, or your strong suit. I know that the defensive plays were put forth by Louie, but they all went through you. That is an area we need to strengthen.”

Jorge: “So bring in a new Defensive Coordinator.”

Me: “I did. But I need to have someone at the helm who I can count on to make the right decisions when the play is being called. Unfortunately, that is not you.”

Jorge again lapsed into silence. I saw a range of emotions cross his face. Finally, he seemed to accept it.

Jorge: “Alright. I assume that because you called me in here, you have already made an offer or signed the new Coach?”

I nodded.

Jorge: “Well, then it doesn’t really matter what I say, does it? I guess I will get out of here.”

I went to say something more, but Jorge shook me off and left. It had been a tough thing to go through, but it was done, and I was free to concentrate on other things.

Later in the week, I went with John Mackey down to City Hall, where he finally presented his stadium proposal to the City Council. The presentation was a thing of beauty. It lasted for over an hour, where Mack laid out the benefits of a new stadium. He pointed out the issues with the current stadium, then brought out some visual aids. He had a miniature 3-D model of the stadium created, as well as a ‘virtual’ model built by computer so that he could walk the Council through the stadium. He also brought out financial models on the benefits that the Raiders brought to Oakland, and what it would would happen with a new stadium. It was quite a convincing presentation.

Until he showed them the cost.

Mack had designed the stadium to have a retractable roof, with a grass turf. He had planned for general seating of 70,000, 15,000 club seats, and 300 luxury boxes. Total cost: $814,000,000. I think the various council members nearly choked to death when they saw that. But then they looked at the next line. Team Contribution to the Project: $0.

Mack and I walked out of there with huge smiles on our faces. The Council had said that they would let us know of the decision to build the stadium in the next few months. We knew that the way was paved for our ultimate plan…to move the team. We only have a few months more to wait, and we were home free.

It had been a whirlwind month, but what a great month it was.