Shell brings back an old friend
Art Shell went to an unusual place to find his offensive coordinator.
He didn't raid a coach from the trendy college team or Super Bowl participant. He brought back his old friend Tom Walsh from a bed-and-breakfast in Idaho.
Walsh was out of the NFL for 11 seasons before Shell hired him to be the Oakland Raiders' new offensive coordinator in February.
Much has changed since Walsh was last in the NFL in 1994. The players are bigger and faster and new strategies like the zone blitz are in vogue. But Walsh said the essence of the game is still the same.
"There's a couple few wrinkles that change ...," Walsh said. "It's like serving chicken. I mean, one day it's fried, one day it's grilled and the next day it's chicken marsala, and the next day it's something else. But it's still chicken. They still got 11 guys out there. It's just a matter of the philosophies of the coaches. You go from there."
Walsh was an assistant with the Raiders from 1982-94 and coached quarterbacks and receivers before becoming offensive coordinator under Shell. He was fired along with Shell following the 1994 season.
Since then, Walsh was head coach for two seasons at Idaho State and worked as director of operations and head coach of a minor league franchise in Mobile, Ala. He has been out of football since 1999.
Walsh, who also was the mayor in Swan Valley, Idaho, said he stayed close to the game through some announcing gigs and talking with college coaches who brought their staffs to the Hansen Guest Ranch.
"It's not a matter of reinventing yourself. Or reinventing anybody," Walsh said. "It's not like I ever went away. You know, I could be mayor, on the governor's board for tourism council in Idaho or whatever, that doesn't mean that my brain was erased. If you're out there bucking hay, you're still going to think about (football)."
Walsh and Shell kept in touch since being fired and Shell had promised his buddy he would have a job as an NFL offensive coordinator again as soon as Shell got a second chance as head coach.
So soon after Shell was hired to replace Norv Turner in February, one of his first calls was to Walsh.
"Because he knows the system that I love," Shell said. "He knows this system, and he knows how to implement it. We had been talking for the last few years about football, and if this came about, it was a natural for me."
Shell and Walsh have promised a return to the physical running style the Raiders employed during their glory days with Shell as a Hall of Fame blocker. Last season, Oakland was second-to-last in the NFL in carries and averaged just 3.8 yards per rush.
He didn't raid a coach from the trendy college team or Super Bowl participant. He brought back his old friend Tom Walsh from a bed-and-breakfast in Idaho.
Walsh was out of the NFL for 11 seasons before Shell hired him to be the Oakland Raiders' new offensive coordinator in February.
Much has changed since Walsh was last in the NFL in 1994. The players are bigger and faster and new strategies like the zone blitz are in vogue. But Walsh said the essence of the game is still the same.
"There's a couple few wrinkles that change ...," Walsh said. "It's like serving chicken. I mean, one day it's fried, one day it's grilled and the next day it's chicken marsala, and the next day it's something else. But it's still chicken. They still got 11 guys out there. It's just a matter of the philosophies of the coaches. You go from there."
Walsh was an assistant with the Raiders from 1982-94 and coached quarterbacks and receivers before becoming offensive coordinator under Shell. He was fired along with Shell following the 1994 season.
Since then, Walsh was head coach for two seasons at Idaho State and worked as director of operations and head coach of a minor league franchise in Mobile, Ala. He has been out of football since 1999.
Walsh, who also was the mayor in Swan Valley, Idaho, said he stayed close to the game through some announcing gigs and talking with college coaches who brought their staffs to the Hansen Guest Ranch.
"It's not a matter of reinventing yourself. Or reinventing anybody," Walsh said. "It's not like I ever went away. You know, I could be mayor, on the governor's board for tourism council in Idaho or whatever, that doesn't mean that my brain was erased. If you're out there bucking hay, you're still going to think about (football)."
Walsh and Shell kept in touch since being fired and Shell had promised his buddy he would have a job as an NFL offensive coordinator again as soon as Shell got a second chance as head coach.
So soon after Shell was hired to replace Norv Turner in February, one of his first calls was to Walsh.
"Because he knows the system that I love," Shell said. "He knows this system, and he knows how to implement it. We had been talking for the last few years about football, and if this came about, it was a natural for me."
Shell and Walsh have promised a return to the physical running style the Raiders employed during their glory days with Shell as a Hall of Fame blocker. Last season, Oakland was second-to-last in the NFL in carries and averaged just 3.8 yards per rush.
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