New Raiders GM McKenzie known for dedication

<p>ALAMEDA -- Jerry Robinson wasn't just Reggie McKenzie's teammate with the Los Angeles Raiders in the late 1980s. They were roommates for road games. Robinson knows McKenzie about as well as anybody, and he's convinced his friend can restore his former team to greatness.</p><p>"He was dedicated to his profession then, and he's even more so dedicated to his profession now," said Robinson, who played at Cardinal Newman before launching a 13-year NFL career. "Very intelligent person. He studied hard -- game film, game plans. And he has passion. You can't play this game and you can't coach this game and you can't GM this game unless you have passion for the game. Reggie McKenzie has that."</p><p>He also has a sense of humor. The Raiders were preparing to play Washington one year when Robinson left McKenzie alone in their room. When he returned, he began a discussion, only to see McKenzie dissolve in laughter. It wasn't Reggie; it was his twin brother, Raleigh, who played for the Redskins.</p><p>Raleigh was sitting in the front row Tuesday, along with other family members when the Raiders introduced his brother as their new general manager. The last time they made such a hire was 1963, when Al Davis arrived as coach as GM.</p><p>Davis died in October, ending an era of autocracy here. Soon after, his son Mark began a search for someone to run the team's football operations.</p><p>"The one thing I know is what I don't know," Mark Davis said Tuesday. "The one thing I did know was I needed to bring the right people in here. . . . My feeling always has been that if my father wasn't here, we needed someone to run that football side of the building. I needed to find the right person. I truly believe that Reggie McKenzie is the right man for this job."</p><p>After his father's death, Davis turned to Ron Wolf, a long-time Packers executive and confidant of Al Davis, for guidance, and Wolf immediately suggested McKenzie, his protégé. Mark Davis couldn't contact other teams' employees during the regular season, so he continued to research the issue and bide his time. He didn't find anyone who seemed more promising than McKenzie. One hour after the Raiders' season-ending loss to San Diego on Jan. 1, chief executive Amy Trask asked the Packers for permission to speak to McKenzie, their director of football operations. The next day, Green Bay granted permission.</p><p>McKenzie flew to Oakland and met with Davis for six hours. Another trusted adviser, former coach and broadcast icon John Madden, sat in on the interview for four hours. Davis didn't schedule another interview. He was convinced he had found his man.</p><p>McKenzie had joined Wolf's staff in Green Bay in 1994 as a pro personnel assistant, and slowly worked his way up the ladder. The Packers have become the NFL gold standard for talent, with draft picks like quarterback Aaron Rodgers and linebacker Clay Matthews, trade acquisitions like running back Ryan Grant and free-agent signings like cornerback Charles Woodson, the former Raider.</p><p>McKenzie was only part of the personnel team there, but he got high marks for his work. He said Tuesday that he plans to replicate the Green Bay organizational model as closely as he can. That means the coach and senior personnel administrators will answer to the GM, who in turn will consult with ownership -- a dramatic departure for Oakland, where practically everyone in the building used to report directly to Al Davis.</p><p>Mark Davis, the heir, is giving McKenzie free rein to hire scouts along with a new head coach. The general manager said it's a dream come true to return to the Raiders, with whom he spent four of his six seasons as an NFL linebacker.</p><p>Asked why he wanted this job, McKenzie replied: "The better question is, 'What are the reasons I wouldn't take this job?' I mean, I'll be here . . . y'all won't eat dinner tonight with all the reasons I have to take this job. Guys, this is where I came from. I'm back home now. . . . As soon as Mark told me 'we want you for the job,' I couldn't stop smiling. You saw how deep my dimples run."</p><p>His Raiders' roots run deep, too, always an advantage around here.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.</p>