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Bisaccia Credits Gus Bradley for Success On Defense

The Las Vegas Raiders defense has improved tremendously under the direction of defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and his coaching staff.

Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia credits defensive coordinator Gus Bradley for the quick turnaround on defense.

After a huge win on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, the Raiders defense has improved across all statistical categories.

“Gus has a great passion, not only for football but for players, and I think he is a mingler. He is around the entire team,” Bisaccia said. “So, I think you see Gus’ personality coming out in a lot of the defensive players.”

During the offseason, then Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden hired Bradley to become the next defensive coordinator. Gruden had already had some understanding and relationship with Bradley, as he had hired Bradley to first NFL coaching job in Tampa Bay.

And ever since his hiring, Bradley has only improved the defense in all aspects.

The Raiders defense ranks 13th in total defense (330 yards per game), 10th in passing yards allowed (214 yards per game), 21st in run defense (116 yards per game), improving tremendously from a year ago, where they ranked in the bottom of the ranks.

Bradley might have not done it alone, players have bought into his system and there has been a sense of cohesiveness with the coaching staff. That cohesiveness has allowed the coaching staff to fix issues on short notice and build a relationship with its players, all being on the same page.

“The thing that is advantageous to us is Gus has had the ability to have his whole staff together for a long time. So, they all know the ins and outs of each other. They can get into conversations on game day, they can get in conversations during the week, and they can fix some problems right away because they’ve been in it together,” Bisaccia said.

“No one is learning the defense for the first time really. Coach [Rod] Marinelli has been a part of many defenses and those two are on the same page. So, to know that he has Richard [Smith], Milo [Ron Milus] and Addy [Addison Lynch] and now with Travis [Smith] and Coach Marinelli, I just think they do a great job of working together. And I think the big thing for all of those guys on defense is I think all the players feel that they care about the players and not only the football X’s and O’s,” Bisaccia added.

Most importantly, Bisaccia sees the effort on players by the way they respond to him in practice and during the games. That endeavor has been reflected on the stat sheets and this Sunday they have an opportunity to add to their recent success and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

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