Las Vegas Raiders Special Teams Coach Tom McMahon
In this story:
HENDERSON, Nev.-The Las Vegas Raiders had a major coup when they signed Josh McDaniels as their new coach in the offseason.
It didn't take long for McDaniels to target Tom McMahon to lead his special teams. McMahon spoke earlier in camp about the state of the Silver and Black special teams.
You can watch the entire interview below, and read the transcript"
Special Teams Coach Tom McMahon
Q: When you are coming into a situation with a punter like AJ Cole and kicker like Daniel Carlson, who both are coming off really good years, what’s the process for maintaining or even getting them to a higher level?
Coach McMahon: “From a coaching standpoint, I think the biggest thing and the way I’m approaching it is consistency. We want the same ball all the time by both of them because if they hit that same ball, that’s perfection. It’s no different than a three-point shooter, he makes all his threes, he shoots it the same. Great free throw shooters. We want the same exact ball, and that’s really what we are shooting for.”
Q: What kind of players from the offense and defense do you want on your special teams units?
Coach McMahon: “I want workers. Work and win start with a ‘w’ for a reason, so the bottom line is you got to start there with workers. And then guys that really understand the game of leverage. That understand that your eyes are going to create the winning leverage at the end of the day. And then the fundamentals will take over with what your eyes and your body does. We have to maintain our leverage on special teams, not only in coverage units but it’s in the return units, and the eyes control your body. And that comes with work.”
Q: What kind of growth have you seen from Coach McDaniels since the time you spent together in St. Louis?
Coach McMahon: “I’ll be honest with you; I’ve always been impressed with coach. When we worked together in St. Louis, I see the same man, I see the same worker. I see the same person. There’s no difference. There’s not one situation he acts one way, one situation he acts another. And the thing is, is his football knowledge it just exudes confidence in all of us as coaches. You can feel it. When somebody is really good at something, you don’t need to say it. People around him can feel it. You can really feel it with Josh, and I’ve always been able to feel that with coach.”
Q: Has there been guys that have stood out to you so far in terms of hard work and mentality?
Coach McMahon: “I like all their mentalities. This is a working group. I’m not going to point anybody out because everybody is working their tails off and they know the only way we are going to get where we need to be is to prepare. And they know it’s going to be hard. That’s probably the biggest trait that I like out of this group, is they aren’t afraid when it gets hard. They fight through and they push through. There’s not a lot of the head down if there is a mistake, if it’s caught out there. They are just working their tails off as a whole group and if one of them is doing it, 10 of them are doing it, then it gets to be 70 guys are doing it and we’re good.”
Q: Why was Maxx Crosby taking snaps at long snapper in practice today?
Coach McMahon: “Everybody is just out there working. Everybody is working at different crafts, and everybody has got different jobs to do. I’m working at long snapper at times with AJ too, so we are all just trying to work.”
Q: How have you seen the growth from when you guys opened up camp to today, especially with pads on for the first time?
Coach McMahon: “I think the growth comes from the fact that when you put pads on what happens is guys get away from their technique, and what I saw today is when the pads came on, they stayed with that technique that we’ve been working for 10 weeks. They didn’t just lose sight of ‘oh, now it’s the physical game.’ That comes with the fundamentals and then the physical will win from that.”
Q: How big is it for you coming into a situation where the specialists are signed long-term and are some of the best at their position in the league?
Coach McMahon: “Coming in I’ll be honest with you, it’s nice to have that accountability from a production standpoint. They’ve been accountable to the Raiders with their production. That hasn’t changes in just our working together. They want their charts to look perfect in terms of their kick charts. They want everything they do out there to be winning because the other guys around them are going to count on them to do their job. So, to answer your question, it’s been extraordinary and great working with those three players. They’re great men and they understand they have to be great teammates.”
Q: Have you seen the level of effort and focus you are looking for from that group?
Coach McMahon: “Yeah, you are definitely seeing that level of effort and focus. I think these guys are starting to understand too, if they can do one thing better than anybody else, not only on this team, but in this league, that’s going to led to big advantages for us because that will create a mismatch for us. We need five mismatches on special teams. And they are really starting to understand that, look if I can be the best at blocking punts, I can be the best in transition blocking in the league, in the gunner, so on and so forth. So, they are all trying to find that one niche.”
Q: If by chance Trent Sieg did get hurt, is there somebody qualified that can step in?
Coach McMahon: “There’s four to five guys in every single organization that they are working and we’re doing the same. And we will have one of them ready.”
Please make sure you tell us your thoughts when you like our Facebook Page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
Want to talk about this? Want to air your opinion about all things Las Vegas Raiders? Maybe you like to talk about other sports that aren't Silver and Black related? We got your back. Join our 100% FREE message board, a brand new option, when you CLICK RIGHT HERE.
Want the latest breaking Las Vegas Raiders news delivered straight to you? CLICK THE FOLLOW button at the top of the page. Don't miss any of the latest up-to-the-second updates for your Las Vegas Raiders when you follow on Twitter @HondoCarpenter
