Graney: Rich Bisaccia held things together for Raiders amid chaos

He helped keep them from drowning, helped keep what were massive distractions limited in scope, helped keep things moving forward. Rich Bisaccia did his best to keep things in order.

He had the ear of the locker room, understood its pulse.

Bisaccia inherited the interim tag as coach of the Raiders in 2021, the result of Jon Gruden resigning after the unearthing of several insensitive emails over a seven-year period.

He’s back in town, Bisaccia returning as an assistant head coach/special teams coordinator for the Packers.

Green Bay meets the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on “Monday Night Football.”

Interim tag

Bisaccia inherited a 3-2 team from Gruden and helped lead the Raiders to a 7-5 finish and an AFC wild-card playoff berth. The Raiders then lost at Cincinnati, and he wasn’t retained.

Owner Mark Davis instead hired Josh McDaniels as coach.

This is what usually happens with those on an interim tag, no matter how popular one becomes during his time running the show. And, without question, Bisaccia was immensely popular with players. It wasn’t enough.

“He was someone we would run through a brick wall for,” wide receiver Hunter Renfrow said. “He’s an amazing leader and someone we admired a lot. Playing (against) him on Monday night is going to be a lot of fun. Any time we get to see him is a great time. He’s a special person.”

Said running back Josh Jacobs: “He’s one of those coaches who genuinely cares about his players. He keeps up with all of us. You know, he runs special teams, so I can talk to him. If he coached defense, we’d have to wait until after the game.”

You can’t overstate the importance of Bisaccia not allowing the locker room to fracture, how significant it was for players to believe in him and his messaging. And they did.

Nothing impedes the progress of a team more than locker room strife. And given what occurred with Gruden, it would have been easy for things to go bad fast.

Losing worsens things over time. The Raiders are 7-14 under McDaniels, and a few stars — notably wide receiver Davante Adams and Jacobs — have publicly stated their displeasure with more losing in a 1-3 start. The Raiders need a win Monday for all sorts of reasons.

In the beginning, Bisaccia was more caretaker than anything else, doing his best to hold together a team and not allow the season to implode.

He immediately allowed then-coordinators Greg Olson (offense) and Gus Bradley (defense) to handle their sides of the ball as he oversaw the program. Bisaccia let his coaches coach.

“What (Bisaccia) did was truly one for the books,” Davis said. “It wasn’t a surprise. I take things game by game and week to week and what can you do.

“I always say the least important thing in life is the score at halftime. You have to keep going. Rich kept the team together, kept the culture together. As you know, those were some very tough times. Rich was able to keep them focused and got us to the playoffs. I’m forever grateful for that.”

‘Family to me’

Players were prepared weekly. Bisaccia was part coach, part psychologist in the most uncommon of situations.

He needed to motivate a team that had suddenly lost its coach and was reminded daily of the controversy surrounding Gruden and the franchise.

And when his time with the Raiders was done, when that playoff game had concluded, Bisaccia sat down and wrote each player a personal note of thanks.

“He did that all the time,” star edge rusher Maxx Crosby said. “He’s one of the greatest coaches I’ve ever been around. We still talk all the time. I have so much respect for him. They’re going to be coming in town wanting to get a big win, and we’re trying to take them down. At the end of the day, it’s all love. That’s family to me.”

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.