Raiders hire Rod Woodson to coach DBs has 0 comments

Feb 15th 2011, 21:21 | FFN-Score: 38 points

Last June, we told you about Rod Woodson’s interest in coaching. He participated in an internship with the Bengals, and he seemed to enjoy impacting young players.

“I’ve got five kids, and I know the commitment coaches have to make,” Woodson told me last summer. “That’s a deterrent at times. But for me to impact the young players’ lives outside of football is huge. You don’t have to be an ex-player to be a good coach, but I like to see a lot of ex-players come back that can give something to the players outside of football.”

Now, he’s going to get his shot.

The Raiders announced today that new coach Hue Jackson has hired Woodson – who already lives in the area – as the team’s defensive backs coach. It’ll be interesting to see how Woodson, a Hall of Fame player, will adapt to relating to the current players in his new role.

More from my June interview with Woodson:

“When the coaches say one thing, players think another,” he said. “Sometimes you have to try to find an even keel. Hopefully, I can try to bridge that gap. I think I’ve been out of the game long enough to know what the coaches really want. I’m trying to tell them what it took for me to get to the next level. That doesn’t really change over the years.