February 16, 2024 is a significant day for the Raiders new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.
On this day, he was seen wearing the shield for the first time publicly after spending nine of his last ten seasons coaching in the NFC North. He took a few minutes away from work for his first media availability since being named in his new role. Not to mention, it's also his birthday.
With his family back still back in Chicagoland preparing for a move to the desert, he told Raiders.com that he's looking forward to enjoying a nice evening on FaceTime with his wife and their four children. However while he's still in the office on his birthday, it's all business already amping up for the 2024 season with his new team.
"It's exciting. I think we're getting to that point where our staff is going to be set real soon and I'm excited to come in next week and hit the ground running," Luke Getsy said Friday. "Putting the installs together, putting the concepts together so this is the exciting time where we get to teach the coaches and then that will lead to them teaching the players."
With the excitement Getsy has going through the initial process of putting his offense in place, many are anticipating what it will look like considering his extensive background. His NFL roots stem from his days with the Green Bay Packers, being hired to the staff as an offensive quality control coach. He was later promoted to wide receivers coach, then quarterbacks coach, ultimately becoming their passing game coordinator before being named the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator in 2022.
The offensive coordinator of the Packers when he first arrived to Green Bay was Edgar Bennett, who's been the Raiders wide receivers coach since 2018. Getsy even claimed he tried to bring Bennett on to his staff with he was the Bears.
"But [the Raiders] knew better here, they wouldn't let him out," joked Getsy. "EB [Edgar Bennett] is a stud, just a pro's pro. I had a great experience working with him for four years and he was in a number of different roles, as was I. I got to see different levels of him too and his commitment and work ethic is just unmatched, so I'm really excited to get to work with him again."
Another familiar face he's teaming up with once again is All-Pro receiver Davante Adams, as the two rolled into Green Bay together in 2014. They dealt with their share of growing pains together, trying to stay afloat as young professionals within a star-studded receiving corps headlined by Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and James Jones. Both Getsy and Adams have spoken to how much they've benefited from being around Bennett, a veteran receiving room and NFL MVP-winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Getsy still fondly remembers the 2016 season where they began to emerge retrospectively and lay the groundwork for their working relationship. It started with a 132-yard, two touchdown performance Adams had against the Chicago Bears Week 6 at Lambeau Field.
"He catches a go-route on our sideline, he beat the defensive back pretty bad and scored the touchdown," recalled Getsy. "And it was that moment where we came back in the next day, he celebrated it for a second, but I went back to say, 'Hey, you won that rep there, but we're trying to grow this thing to where you're beating the best of the best.' The way we approach it, the way we attack it, the way we use our fundamentals and technique. And that was a time where I challenged him and he challenged me back, so there was a moment where we had to take a step back each.
"I think that was a cool moment for us where we both took off together," he continued. "His career shot up and obviously he became our guy the rest of the time we were there together in Green Bay. That was kind of a cool moment when I was a young coach and he was a young receiver and we kind of butted heads for a second and that turned into something really cool.'
As for what Getsy is trying to accomplish with the Raiders, he wants to build his unit into a cohesive group that brings speed and physicality in the trenches. This comes as no surprise considering the Bears had the No. 1 and 2 rushing offense in the league under his watch. In the Raiders' Week 7 road matchup at Soldier Field last season, Getsy's offense rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns in the Bears' 30-12 victory.
"He whooped our ass when we played them," Head Coach Antonio Pierce said of that Week 7 matchup. "Who was their QB? I don't know. Who was their RB? I don't know. But they still beat us pretty good."
With Getsy's former schematic success running the ball, and Pierce's desire to bring a tough, gritty demeanor across the board, it could potentially make for an invigorating relationship between the two as they look to take the Raiders offense to new heights.
"We want guys that are going to be up front that will run off the rock," said Getsy. "It all starts there, it's got to start with the way they run off the football. And the second part of it is, it's 11 as one. It's not a lineman, it's not a tight end, it's not a receiver, it's not a quarterback, it's not a runner – it's all of them. To have the success that we had, it took every piece of it. So if the receiver isn't doing his job, we're not going to have that explosive game. If the tight end isn't running off the rock, he's messing up the running back's track. And if the running back doesn't stay true to his track, he's messing up the tight end and the tackle.
"All these things play together, so if you have the get-off, you have the mentality of 11 playing as one. That's really the secret sauce."
