The Raiders did not retain defensive backs coach Johnnie Lynn or assistant defensive backs coach Clayton Lopez after the end of the 2013 season and they’ve settled on replacements.
Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group reports that the team has confirmed the hiring of defensive backs coach Joe Woods with Marcus Robertson coming on board as his assistant. Woods had been with the Vikings in the same job for the last eight seasons, but he was let go along with head coach Leslie Frazier after the Raiders completed their season.
Robertson spent last year as the defensive backs coach with the Lions, who relieved him of his duties when they did the same with head coach Jim Schwartz. Robertson had been an assistant secondary coach for two years before that, a repeat of the same climb up the ladder he made with the Titans from 2007 to 2011. Robertson also played 10 years for the Titans as a safety and was named to the All-Pro team in 1993.
Both men will be charged with helping defensive coordinator Jason Tarver and head coach Dennis Allen put together a more effective unit in 2014 as the Raiders try to move forward after two years seeing their roster squeezed by the machinations of the previous regime.