Raiders coach playing hard ball like Mangini

Shell Goes Old School on Raiders
Coach Returns With Discipline as Priority
By JOSH DUBOW
AP
NAPA, Calif. (July 31) - Art Shell 's first training camp practice was barely an hour old when it became clear that things had changed around the Oakland Raiders .

Defensive lineman Rashad Moore jumped offsides and his teammates immediately yelled out that he better get ready for some sprints.


When the Raiders' first practice finished, Moore was joined by 11 teammates on a run around the field as punishment for penalties.


Even star Randy Moss has had to "pay the bank," as Shell puts it, and run after practice for committing false starts.


There's a new regime in town and Shell is making sure his players know it.


"With Art being here, I think there's a certain standard that's here, and if you don't meet that standard you're not going to be here," running back LaMont Jordan said. "One standard is you have to minimize your penalties, you have to minimize your mistakes, you have to go out there and play sensible football. Hopefully this year will be a lot different than it was last year."


Shell is running a tighter ship than Norv Turner did in his two years in Oakland , ordering the sprints for players who jump offsides or commit false starts, and bringing back the macho pit drill that he hopes will instill toughness into the team.


While those old-school tactics are sometimes met with skepticism by modern athletes, defensive tackle Warren Sapp believes it will work in Oakland.


"It's going to be on your mind," Sapp said. "Right now, when you go back and lay down, this afternoon when you come back out, if you don't eliminate, it you're going to be dead. That's not something you want to do on a day-in, day-out basis. I guarantee it."

Penalties have historically been a big problem for the Raiders dating to Shell's career as a player. They led the NFL with 147 infractions last year, often putting the offense in a hole or keeping the defense on the field for extra plays.


Shell said he can live with penalties of aggression, but has no patience with sloppy pre-snap penalties that are often a matter of simple concentration.


"That's focus, and we've got to make sure we take care of those types of things," Shell said. "You can't give away those types of penalties. That's free money, as they say, you're giving away 5 yards. Whether it's defensively or offensively, or even on special teams, you just can't do that because you're hurting your football team."


Shell's approach has a backer in his former coach, John Madden, who'll be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame later this week. Madden came out for Shell's first practice last week and was pleased with what he saw.


"You're not tough if you say you're tough. You're tough if you play tough," Madden said. "You're fundamental if you play fundamental, not say it. They're on the right track. They say different eras. Players still want discipline. They can say they're different, that players are different, and maybe they are. But players still want discipline."


After three straight losing seasons, the Raiders have welcomed the old-school approach. Oakland won just 13 games in three years under Bill Callahan and Turner since going to the Super Bowl following the 2002 season.


Shell, a Hall of Famer during his playing career with the Raiders, has brought a different level of credibility than the tacticians like Callahan and Turner had.


"We have a leader here now," defensive lineman Bobby Hamilton said. "I'm going to keep saying leader. That's what he is. He's a good coach, he played the game well. He's in the Hall of Fame. If you can't go by that, there's something wrong with you. You need to be out of here. ... Just go out there and do what he says and work."