On Tuesday afternoon, the Oakland Raiders officially introduced Jon Gruden as their new head coach, and he wasted no time announcing that the organization is bringing back Greg Olson as their next offensive coordinator.
Olson served as the Los Angeles Rams' quarterbacks coach this past season, helping transform Jared Goff from assumed bust into a respectable, efficient NFL QB. If he didn't get picked up by Oakland, it was only a matter of time until Olson landed another offensive coordinator job somewhere else.
The 54-year-old has coached in the NFL since 2001, serving various roles before becoming OC for the Detroit Lions in 2004. He served the same position for the St. Louis Rams (2006-07), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2008-11, Oakland Raiders (2013-14), and Jacksonville Jaguars (2015-16).
Gruden detailed how Olson's experience will be pivotal to developing starting quarterback Derek Carr further:
Gruden on Olson's experience coaching Derek Carr: "His intel there will be very important. He coached with me in Tampa and he coached with Sean McVay, one of my ex-assistants in L.A., so the system of football that we run there will be a real natural flow.”
— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) January 9, 2018
Over the weekend, conflicting reports came out about the Raiders bringing in New York Jets offensive coordinator John Morton as well as Olson for the same position. Perhaps Morton was the initial choice until it became clear that Olson would be open to making a return to Oakland.
The Raiders' offense struggled in 2017, and while it can somewhat be attributed to injuries to quarterback Derek Carr and star wideout Amaro Cooper, they still underperformed after a stellar 2016 campaign. They finished 23rd in scoring offense and 18th in total offense.
Alongside Rams head coach Sean McVay and offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur, Olson contributed to one of the most impressive offensive overhauls in NFL history, taking the worst scoring offense in the league in 2016 to first overall in points in 2017. It remains to be seen what his role will be in terms of play-calling in Oakland; in Los Angeles, McVay handled those duties.
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