Raiders OL Coach Bricillo Leads with Love, and Grit

HENDERSON, Nev.--Throughout the time that football has been the landscape of American culture, the role of the coach and the player has been under the microscope.

Some classic coaches like Bill Belichick, Vince Lombardi, and Bill Parcells approach their job with a dictatorial style, and they have Super Bowl championship to lend creativity to their style.

Conversely, coaches such as Pete Carroll and Sean McVay are traditionally branded as "players-coaches" by those who set football on the gridiron.

Lastly, and perhaps the most difficult to find, is a coach like Carmen Bricillo, the Las Vegas Raiders offensive line coach.

Don't miss my fantastic conversation with Bricillo below:

This might surprise most fans, but the third type of coach has won more championships, yet they are the hardest to find.

A coach like Bricillo is rare, they have the hard-nosed expectations of a Bill Belichick, yet they have the relationship and warmth with their players.

In most cases, the first two kinds of coaches are not loved. But that third kind is a unicorn.

That ability to be hard on a player while maintaining closeness, personal love, and warmth goes beyond the disingenuous "players coach" it has more to deal with in the real world.

Recently my wife and I were out at a local establishment for dinner. Moments after we sat down, a current Raider came in. He walked over to our table, and we shared pleasantries and our spouses.

He asked if he could join our table, and we said yes. While our conversation had nothing to do with football, we began discussing the offensive line toward the end.

As soon as the direction of the conversation went to the gridiron and the offensive line, he said something to me. "Carm's (OL Coach Carmen Bricillo) guys love playing with him."

We didn't talk much longer about football, but that one comment told me everything I needed to know about Bricillo.

I asked Andre James about what the player told me, and he said: "Since the first day Carm came in, he's just demanded perfection, and you really don't want anything else from a coach, especially an offensive line coach, with the consistency that’s required to play offense line. So, since day one, he came in, and he's pushed our group to do better in everything we do. And we really respect that. Like I said, you want a guy like that, just a good guy you want to have in your room. And guys respect him, he's a great leader, and it's been great having him."

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