Always a Raider
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Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Raiders
"We should be OK this year. But the most impor
tant thing Is getting this team out of training camp
healthy. We'll be decent."
Shell is confident that in time,
Marinovich, a.k.a. "Robo Quarter
back", will make his mark. "He's a
good, heady kid," the coach added.
^'He's smart and has a very accurate
arm. We just have to make sure that
he keeps his head in the game. Our
future will be very bright with him.
He can be a phenomenal player in
this league."
Achieving the phenomenal is a
Raider trademark. Shell should
know. As a player, he manhandled
opponents in the trenches as a 6-5,
300 lbs. offensive tackle. In 15 sea
sons, he teamed with tackle Gene
Upshaw to lead the Oakland
Raiders to two Super Bowl titles
and 11 playoff appearances. He was
an eight-time Pro Bowl selection,
the most for any Raider.
In retrospect, it's obvious that
Shell's hiring as the man in charge
> had more to do with his familiarity
with the Rattler philosophy as
opposed to. skin color. He retired as
an active player at the end of the '82
season, and has stayed with the
organization since that time as a -
coach. When it comes to football,
Shell's thinking ts 100 percent skull
and crossbones.
That, in part, explains why the
Raiders have risen from mediocrity
during Shell's tenure. Bo knows
fame and fortune. But Shell knows
what team owner A1 Davis expects.
He's also well -schooled at pushing
the right buttons to get his players
to perform to their maximum.
Much of Shell's coaching focus,
especially after he took over, cen
V > 9
tered on restoring Raider pride. As
a griot of sorts, he is adept at recit
ing Raider folklore to the young
players (it's called going back to the
'Twilight Zone").
Art's method works. His guys
are looking more like the Raider
teams of yesteryear ? a bunch that
doesn't have chips, but boulders on:
its collective shoulders.
"I didn't make any major adjust
ments when I became head coach,"
Shell insisted. "1 just went back to
doing what we had done in the past.
We attack on offense and defense.
: We'll stuff the ball down your throat
and when needed, go over the top
with the pass from time to time.
"My biggest job was to get our
people to understand that you
should play hard, but have some
fun. We weren't having any fun
before I took over. When you play
hard and have ftin, you don't worry _?
about mistakes and you'll eventual
ly win."
The Raiders coach realizes that
his team can improve and still not
equal or surpass last season's won
loss record. But the main goal for ?
his team is to always continue to
get better. The same goes for him.
"I want to be able to make
adjustments on the spot," he said. "I
don't want to wait until halftimc.
Teams that can make changes right
then and there are the teams that
will win."
? . . - ? . ... ? .
Shell knows the art of victory.
It's no accident. Once a Raider,
always a Raider.
- Cralfl T. Greenlee