After spending his first seven seasons in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, Jeff Heath inked a two-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders last March. For the strong safety, his familiarity with the Raiders coaching staff played a key role in his move.
In particular, Heath mentioned Rich Bisaccia, the former assistant head coach and special teams coordinator of the Cowboys who now holds the same position for the Raiders. Also, the presence of defensive line coach Rod Marinelli helped him decide where to go to next.
“It felt right, I have a lot of familiarity with some of the coaches there,” Jeff Heath shared, per Raiders.com. “Coach Bisaccia was in Dallas with me for my first five years and Coach Marinelli was there too, and I've been with him the whole time I was in Dallas. I just got a really good feeling talking to Coach Gruden and Mr. Mayock, obviously Coach Rich and Coach Marinelli, all those guys. A lot of familiarity, it's going to be fun being a part of something new being the first year in [Las] Vegas, so it all kind of went into that decision.”
Bisaccia was with the Cowboys from 2013 to 2017. With that said, Heath essentially made the transition to the pros under Bisaccia's eye.
In the last three years of his stint with the Cowboys, Heath was at his most productive. He logged in 189 tackles, 17 passes defended, three forced fumbles,and four interceptions (per the Raiders). While he was part of the special teams, his impressive game made him one of the pillars of the Cowboys defense.
