"MORT REPORT" EXCLUSIVE
ESPN's Chris Mortensen lands the first interview with Al Davis' new assistant
CM: Mr. Baxter, first of all, pleasure to have you in studio with us. First of all, what is your official title and level of responsibility with the Oakland Raiders?
IB: Well, officially, I am "Assistant to the Managing Partner" which doesn't exactly clear things up, but in terms of job function, I am pretty much in a traditional general manager role, though Al has oversight and approval of anything I might do.
CM: Well now that that's out of the way, the question every NFL fan wants to know... how does a guy with no prior NFL experience land a job that seasoned executives would kill for, and furthermore, a job that didn't even exist because Al always exerted control over his team?
IB: Mort, I ask myself that question every day. In all seriousness. I guess what happened is Al got a hold of some of my blog posts, and actually called me about one of them. I don't even remember the exact content of the conversation, but I remember that we disagreed, but in a constructive way. And I thought it was the end of it at the time, but then I'd hear from Al every so often about something I wrote.
CM: So how did that lead to this job?
IB: Well the conversations continued here and there, but I think what really pushed it over was the Terrelle Pryor supplemental draft pick. I wrote something really strongly in Al's camp, that you couldn't suspend a kid for something he did in college -- that you either had to take a stance and say he couldn't be in the supplemental draft and live with those consequences, or let the kid play. One or the other. It was a couple days after that that Al called me up and asked me if I'd like to fly out to discuss a role with the team.
CM: Did he say it was, essentially, a GM-level position?
IB: No, I thought it was going to be something in the marketing department.... maybe writing press releases or something. I was shocked as anyone when he offered me the job.
CM: Amazing. So what do you think he saw in you?
IB: Well, in the end, you'd have to ask him. I wouldn't want to speak for him. But I got the feeling that he respected constructive disagreement. I didn't just get star-struck that the great Al Davis was talking to me; I stuck to my guns when I disagreed with him, and I got the feeling that impressed him in a positive direction. But again, that's really something only he can answer.
CM: Looking more to the day-to-day path ahead of you, what sort of football mind are you? What sort of strategies do you envision bringing to the Raiders?
IB: Well, I think I'm in pretty good alignment with Al's direction. Strong defense, run the football well, speed on the outside.... these are all concepts I've taken to heart. I may not be quite so speed-driven in my drafting style, but it's still an important facet of the game. You can teach a guy technique, but you can't teach a slow guy to run a 4.3 40.
CM: You mentioned the Terrelle Pryor signing. Initially, it was said he was being brought in as a receiver. Is that still the direction?
IB: This is one of the places where Al and I differ. I feel like you can find receivers anywhere, but finding a quarterback who can throw the ball and run is a rare commodity, even if he's a little rough around the edges. So we're going to develop Terrelle as a quarterback. I don't want to say we can get receivers anywhere, but we can get receivers. Someone of Terrelle's skill, you make use of what you've been given there.
CM: How do you feel about Hue Jackson and the rest of the coaching staff?
IB: I've gotten along great with the coaching staff great in our initial meetings, but we have to get into a day-to-day routine and see how we work together. In a collaborative environment like this, you have to do the job to get a feel how the personalities mesh and work together. But that's not a vote of no confidence in Hue... I need to understand how my style works in this organization as well.
CM: One more question before we go... do you feel like you're ready for this? There have been guys who have done this for years, and you're dropping right onto the biggest stage in the sport. Can you look into that camera and say you're up to this challenge?
IB: Absolutely. Look... I have moments of doubt like anyone. I listened to Jim Rome's callers talking about how Al had gone senile, how the only way I got the job is a ran a good 40-time or that he mistook me for John Madden. And as a fan, I
get that... it's a big responsibility for anyone, but particularly for someone who hasn't done this at this level before. But at the same time, I have confidence in myself, and in my ability to make the decisions that will make this team a winner.