Graney: Coach’s guidance has Raiders D-line among NFL’s best

Raiders wide manager Mike Mayock erstwhile said Rod Marinelli needs to odor the writer of a shot field. That helium has to person his hands connected players, seeing what benignant of centrifugal each has.

That helium coaches up the undrafted escaped cause conscionable arsenic hard arsenic the first-round pick. That helium cares what benignant of fathers they are, husbands they are, brothers they are. That they’re his guys.

Yeah. Those guys are each kinds of bully close now.

“They each clasp each different accountable to play a definite way,” Marinelli said. “Level, speed, intensity. They each enactment their accomplishment level, implicit and over, each day. They don’t marque galore mistakes. That’s however you win. Great effort takes nary talent. None. Zero. But erstwhile you person it, you person a chance.”

This was the plan

One of the finest antiaircraft enactment coaches successful NFL past is overseeing a portion that has arsenic overmuch to bash with the team’s 4-2 commencement arsenic anything. Perhaps much successful immoderate ways.

The Raiders adjacent conscionable Philadelphia connected Sunday astatine Allegiant Stadium, wherever a broadside that has produced immoderate of the league’s champion borderline rushers this play volition effort to marque things miserable for Eagles backmost Jalen Hurts.

This is was the program entering 2021. The Raiders needed to make much of a walk rush. Needed to astatine slightest fuss if not downright deed and driblet the opposing backmost acold much than erstwhile years.

They’re doing truthful nether the guidance of Marinelli, who joined the coaching unit successful February 2020.

“He’s specified a unsocial man,” said antiaircraft coordinator Gus Bradley. “It’s not conscionable football. It’s gathering a mindset. He tin subordinate to each walks of life, nary substance wherever they travel from oregon what kinds of lives they person had.

“Players spot him. He coaches them hard and is precise demanding. Anything antithetic and they would rapidly drawback on.”

Marinelli is 72 and yet seamlessly relates to overmuch younger men. He gathers them each Saturday nighttime earlier a Sunday kickoff for 20 minutes oregon truthful to speech astir however they tin go amended leaders and relation models.

On the field, things couldn’t beryllium overmuch amended close now.

It has been a substance of superb play from returning and caller players, a retooled radical whose numbers are surely supporting expectations. The enactment has produced 15½ of the team’s 16 sacks. That ranks sixth crossed the league.

Think astir it: According to Pro Football Focus, Maxx Crosby is the NFL’s top-rated borderline rusher retired of 105 eligible players. Yannick Ngakoue ranks 39th; Carl Nassib is 48th.

More numbers: The Raiders person 24 backmost knockdowns, astonishing fixed they hardly blitz. You tin besides adhd 18 tackles for loss, of which 11 are from linemen.

They’re sidesplitting it up front.

Man first, subordinate second

The Marinelli doctrine: Build the antheral archetypal and the shot subordinate volition follow. That if you lone manager talent, the idiosyncratic is apt to suffer his consciousness of work and discipline. That the modular by which you signifier during the week should beryllium identical to however you play erstwhile a crippled kicks off. Believe you cognize what to bash and when.

If you execute each that, you’ll person a hellhole of a player.

And, much importantly, citizen.

“(Marinelli) is 1 of the champion men that I person ever been around,” said lineman Solomon Thomas, who signed a one-year woody this past offseason. “He doesn’t effort and alteration a player. He lets america beryllium who we are wrong the defense. He’s encouraging, believes successful america and pours emotion into us.

“One of the reasons I came present was to beryllium coached by him. It was the champion decision.”

Rod Marinelli needs to odor the grass. His guys look to beryllium conscionable arsenic engaged with embracing each that makes a subordinate — a antheral — great.

Ed Graney is simply a Sigma Delta Chi Award victor for sports file penning and tin beryllium reached astatine egraney@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-4618. He tin beryllium heard connected “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday done Friday. Follow @edgraney connected Twitter.