Derek Carr's NFL Journey Started With Saints Coach Dennis Allen
The Las Vegas Raiders will be facing a familiar foe in New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen on Sunday.
Allen was head coach of the Oakland Raiders for two-plus seasons before being fired after an 0-4 start to the 2014 season.
Despite his unsuccessful tenure with the franchise, Allen will always hold a special place in the heart of Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, whom Allen drafted back in 2014.
"DA [Dennis Allen] and I have a great relationship still to this day," Carr said in his Wednesday press conference. "And I still talk to him and things like that -- obviously not this week and all those things, but we've always kept in contact, we've always been close. I love him, I loved having him. Obviously I didn't know what had gone on before I got here, so all of a sudden, boom it's four games, boom, he's gone. I'm like, 'What the heck. Is this how it's supposed to go? Like what is going on?' And come to find out all the cap problems and this and that and all the things that he had to try and work through, it's tough. And then you see him leave, and all the success that he's had as a defensive coordinator. So to see him get another chance at being a head coach, I was so happy for him, because I loved him.
"He's a brilliant mind, really smart, cerebral, can break down an offense, can really put pressure on quarterbacks, make it hard on them. From a quarterback perspective as a defensive coach, I had a great relationship with him. We had open communication for the short time that we had, and I'll never forget it. I mean, he gave me my chance in this league, and I've told him 100 times and I'll tell him 100 more times how thankful I am for the chance that he not only drafted me, but to trust me when he asked me if I was ready to start. And obviously the rest is history. So it's crazy that it's almost been 10 years now, that it's been that long, but him and I, we've always stayed close, again obviously except this week."
Sunday's matchup begins at 10 a.m. PDT at Caesars Superdome.
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