They all want to win the Super Bowl now and that’s how it should be.
Players. Coaches. Management. If not, what in the world are they doing in this profession?
They should all be about a win-now mentality in most ways.
The game is too hard to think otherwise.
But there is also a significant part about building for the future, about showing some patience in trying to make what has been a consistently losing franchise for some time into an eventual success.
That can happen under the leadership of the Las Vegas Raiders today.
That can happen with general manager John Spytek and coach Klint Kubiak making the most serious and ultimate of decisions in the years to come. And there’s nothing wrong with this strategy. You can have it both ways.
Mendoza not ready
The Raiders open their season Sunday against Miami at Allegiant Stadium, the first of, as Kubiak calls them, 17 sprints across an NFL schedule.
Believe it: The sportsbooks have set a win total of 5½ for the Raiders. Anything more than that should be considered a great season. Anything more than that would show the needed progress to begin such a desired turnaround.
Remember we are talking about a team that last season won three games and for it received the first overall draft pick. It used such a selection on quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the future at the most important of positions.
He isn’t ready yet to assume control of the offense — a major reason veteran Kirk Cousins was signed and will open the season as the starter — but should be in time. It goes to the part about patience. About needing time to construct a competent enough team around Mendoza to take full advantage of his ability and produce a winning team.
You can credit Kubiak for creating the type of atmosphere needed for such a goal to eventually become reality. Forget the past. About former coaches and how things were done. It doesn’t matter now. What does is how the Raiders approach things daily.
“I would say walking into the building, what the expectations are in the meeting room and at practice,” punter AJ Cole said. “How you’re going to be held accountable.
“I think those are the things that make up the culture. If those things aren’t there daily, then it’s not the culture.”
Added edge rusher Maxx Crosby: “Every coach is different in regards to his relationship with players and (Kubiak) does a great job. You can talk to him about anything but he’s also going to get on everyone’s ass the same way. You want everyone to be held accountable. We have a very young team and you have to come in and set the culture. You have to set the standard and do whatever needs to be done.”
Players set the culture. They’re the ones sacrificing the most. They’re the ones on the field.
Which is why they want to win more than anything. Which is why every one of them begins a new season with the goal of reaching the ultimate prize, no matter how unrealistic others believe it to be.
I’m sure Spytek and Kubiak feel the same way about winning each week. But it’s also their job in this instance to embrace a long-term approach. To attack this venture as one that can produce several years of positive results rather than just competing for a sense of instant gratification that might never materialize.
The Raiders aren’t yet good enough for management to only focus on the present.
But it’s different with players. That’s their job, their hopes and dreams.
As it should be.
Win football games
“I think it’s their job to build it over time and it’s our job to win as many games as possible,” Cole said. “It’s our job to go out there every single day and, you know, how good can we get, how well can we play this week, how can we play even better next week? The goal is to win football games and play as well as we can every Sunday.”
Said safety Jeremy Chinn: “We want to win now. That’s the goal. That’s why we play the game.”
Absolutely. That’s the correct mindset.
It should also be about some patience and projects and doing what’s necessary to guarantee future success. Yes. You can have it both ways.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.
