Max Farias preached passion and smash mouth football as he was introduced as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders.
The Raiders held a news conference for Farias on Monday and those two themes were repeated often by the first-time head coach. Max Farias was hired during the offseason to replace Corey Girtz, who resigned after going 13-3 in his only season as head coach, a surprise not only to the Oakland Raiders organization but to the entire league.
Now Max Farias takes over a franchise that had the 3rd best record in the AFC at 13-3 and made the playoffs for the first time last season.
We sat down with coach Farias following his introduction to get his feed back on what the Oakland Raiders can expect with him as their new head coach and also get some feed back on his personal life.
Q: How are you doing coach?
A: Doing great, thank you. Glad to be here. I’m glad to be home.
Q: Looks like you have some big shoes to fill seeing how the previous coaching staff had a very explosive offense and solid team overall. Will we see more of it?
A: The previous staff did a tremendous job this past season and I truly believe that we will be as explosive and physical as in the prior seasons.
Q:What big changes do we expect to see with this team?
A: Well, expect there to be competition. That you can believe. If I see a player that fits best in another position, and improves our chances to win, you bet I will move him there. There will be open competition across the board. If the player doesn’t like it, well they won’t be here for long. We’re trying to build a solid foundation with solid individuals.
Q: How do you plan to deal with Rolando McClain and his issues?
A:The young man has some growing up to do. But we all did at that age. Who can say that they were in there right mind at that time. There’s a lot to the kid. We plan on evaluating him and see where his heart and mind are at. We can use him on our team.
Q: Matt Shaughnessy, Jacoby Ford, they’re good to go?
A: Definitely! We’d like to use a lot more of Ford in our offense. We plan on doing some creative things with him on offense and special teams. We see Shaughnessy as someone who can step in and help right away. We plan on using him a lot too.
Q: What does the future hold for Terrelle Pryor?
A: He’s a great kid with a lot of upside. Theres no telling what he can do. We plan on using him at his true position and thats at quarterback. He can be our next explosive player on offense. Look out for TP this season.
Q: Any chance Huff going to corner?
A: Possibly. Like I said, if players are better suited for another position, I’ll stick him there. We also have some young corners that we’d like to see get experience and prove to us that they can play. They have to earn their spot on the team as well regardless if its 3rd or 4th string.
Q: There’s a rumor going on that you wanted to coach AND play on the team? Is that true?
A: You know, sometimes you get so involved in the game to where you wish you can just put the pads on and go knock someone out, but I guess there are limits.
Q: The use of the wideouts were close to non existent? Will we see more involvement with the receivers?
A: We have a good solid group of wideouts but we are low as far as depth. We need more at that position. But to answer your question, we will do our best to involve as many key players as possible rather than using a select few. We wouldn’t want to overuse our key players and expose them to getting injured.
Q: How would you describe first couple of weeks on the job?
A: Intense. I’m a very busy individual and I have a lot on my plate at work and at home.
Q: Seymour part of long-term plan?
A: We want him to stay a Raider. He’s one of our leaders on defense. He’s an impact player.
Q: How have you and Reggie worked together putting things together?
A: We communicate on a daily basis and we exchange information about our team.
Q: Favorite game and Gamer tag?
A: I’ll go old school on everyone. Tecmo Super Bowl! I still play the new version. And my gamertag is Maxabater for the Xbox 360 and PS3.
Q: Favorite food and beer?
A: Food? Well, I’ll eat anything but my favorite at the moment is crawfish with sausages, corn, shrimp, Cajun fries, and garlic bread. Beer … Guinness but any Mexican lager works to wash down the spicy Cajun food.
Q: What message would you like to say to the Raider nation?
A: It’s a new regime but expect smash mouth Raider football.
