Tough Bisaccia, Won Raiders Hearts Being Human
Seconds after Jon Gruden resigned as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, I began to hear from players. There was one name they wanted as their next head coach, and that name was Rich Bisaccia.
After the loss in the Wild Card round, Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Bisaccia took the time to write personal letters to his players.
Since Bisaccia took over as interim head coach, he did not recognize his success. He would be the first to praise and thank his players for their effort every week, only taking responsibility for failures and shortcomings.
Away from the cameras, Bisaccia is a tough-as-nails coach. Demanding and challenging earn respect. He got that, but Bisaccia earned more than respect; he won his player's hearts being human.
The genuine display of humanity towards his beloved players was appreciation taken to another level. When a social media post showed Bisaccia writing personal letters to his players.
“First of all, the handwritten letters, the way that got out is my daughter and I were in the hotel room, it was really early in the morning, and I was in the process of finishing up some of the letters that I had started during the course of the week. And she thought that obviously was a pretty neat deal and she put it on her personal Facebook, which we had a conversation about after,” Bisaccia said.
His older daughter might have posted the picture on her Facebook, but in the world of social media, someone shared it to someone and they shared it to someone else until it reached the mainstream and we are here talking about it.
“I usually text players a lot during the course of the week, different things. And so, this is just an opportunity for me to hit all the players that particularly dressed in that game, where I didn't have to text every one of them individually. So, I just went back to writing some letters throughout the week, finishing them up that morning, and that's how that that picture got out there. And so, that was my daughter's sentiment of how proud she was of her dad, and I'll take that every day, to know that your kids feel that way about you,” Bisaccia added.
Bisaccia recalls doing something similar since his early days as a college coach and until this day he continues to show his gratitude to his players with a kind gesture.
Mark Davis is waiting to decide on the future of Rich Bisaccia. His players have spoken, and they want the interim tag removed.
No matter what happens, Bisaccia won't be defined by Davis, and he won't be defined by wins or toughness. Bisaccia will be defined by the love of the men he was tasked to lead and the love he EARNED from them. In a cut-throat NFL, not predicated on words like love, Bisaccia earned it.
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