Time will tell if Hue Jackson can lead the Raiders to their first winning season since 2002. One thing is clear: Jackson already has the old school Raiders swagger down cold.
“The Raiders are not about losing,” Jackson said to Albert Breer of NFL.com in response to the team’s recent lack of success. “We’ve fallen short, there’s no question. But those days are behind us. The old Raiders are back. We’re going to win, and we expect to win.”
Jackson has added a few former Raiders (Greg Biekert, Steve Wisniewski, and Rod Woodson) to the coaching staff. It’s all in an effort to bring back a winning attitude to an organization that has been among the league’s worst over the last decade.
“My vision of what I want us to be is what the Raiders used to be,” Jackson said. “And what the Raiders used to be, when they walked in town, everybody knew we carried the big stick and we were coming to get them.”
In my brief time talking with Jackson at the Combine, it was easy to see why Al Davis loves the guy. He’s passionate. Confident. And he calls Davis “coach.” Like Rex Ryan in New York, Jackson seemingly wants his team to follow his brash lead.
“I’m gonna let my personality show through this football team, and this football team is going to let their personality show through me,” Jackson told Breer. “We’re gonna be a fiery, get-after-you, come-get-you football team. That’s what we’re going to do. That’s what the Raiders are.”