Asomugha: Coaching turnover has hurt
The Shadow
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Highlights of an interview with Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha on
the �Petros and Money� show on KLAC (570-AM) in Los Angeles:
Q: How much does the coaching fluctuation play into the team�s poor
record over the past six years?
Asomugha: A huge part. It plays a huge part. We can leave football and
go to any company in the world. When your head person, the head guy in
charge, is leaving every single year, that�s tough for the employees,
it�s tough for the focus of the company to move in the right direction,
and that�s been one of the problems with us. One of the things that has
hurt us has been the coaching changes throughout the year, so it�s great
to have Cable back, maybe that will help us a lot more.
Q: What changed when Cable took over? What did he do that caused the
powers that be to bring him back?
Asomugha: He didn�t change too much. We were in the middle of the season
and he didn�t want it to be like this big shock factor where everything
changes and we�re trying to start all over. He was just trying to
continue with what he had, and tried to build on it. But what we were
able to do in those last two games, what shocked a lot of people, in
getting those victories against teams that were essentially playoff
teams, so that was one thing that led to the rehiring or bringing him
back for this year and guys believe him, guys want to play for him.
Q: Does Al Davis text you up in the offseason, what�s it like working
for him?
Asomugha: I don� even know if he�s even into Twitter and all that stuff.
It�s great working for him. First of all, he doesn�t come out all the
time. People always want to know if he�s always at practice. He�ll come
out every now and then, maybe once a week, just to see how the team is
playing, or see how the team is preparing, but Al is a guy who wants to
win, and I think that�s what gets guys going. You�re looking for a guy
who wants to win so badly, and he�ll go whatever lengths he has to get
that job done.
Q: Regarding the AFC West is Jay Cutler worth two first-round draft
picks and mortgaging the future as Chicago did?
Asomugha: I don�t know. I think that might say a lot about the
quarterback they had before Jay, more than it says about Jay, actually.
Jay is definitely a great player and, you throw great around a lot, but
he�s one of the top quarterbacks in the league. In my opinion, in our
division, he was always one of the guys that was tough to prepare for,
because he had the confidence to throw anywhere and to do anything he
wanted to do. I think it�s going to be a great fit for Chicago. I didn�t
understand Denver�s reasoning for letting him go because I felt he was
going to help them out a lot.
Q: Talk about how difficult it is to play cornerback, how you go about
handling the position . . .you�ve got to be kind of a cocky, A-hole to
play that position . . .
Asomugha: It�s got to be in you It�s got to be in you somewhere. Not
necessarily an A-hole but you have to have this air, you have to have
this confidence inside of you, because once you lose it, the moment you
lose it, you�ve lost the battle. You have to go into every play saying,
I�m going to dominate this receiver that�s across from me . . . in the
scheme we play in Oakland, it�s man-to-man, 95 percent of the time, and
you just don�t see that anywhere else in the league, so it�s a very
difficult position to play especially against the athletes that we�re
going up against.
Q: Ever feel like you�re on your own out there like a lone gunman, on
your own . . .
Asomugha: All the time. There�s time in the middle of the game where
you�re thinking, `is anyone going to talk to me?� The rest of the
defense is taking care of business, you�re by yourself. You always feel
by yourself. It�s not like a defensive lineman, where you�ve got a guy
to the left and the right of him. We�re out there, 10 yards from
everybody else.
Q: How important is that defensive line?
Asomugha: Rod Woodson always used to tell me, show me a great cornerback
and I�ll show you a great pass rusher on that same team, and I think it
works both ways. No one can cover for five, six seconds, four seconds,
at that, so any time you�ve got a guy on the defensive line or a couple
of guys, as we have now, as we�ve brought Greg Ellis from the Cowboys, a
couple of guys that can get that pass rush, you�re going to make life
much easier on the corners on the island.
Q: One guy that just is tough, harder than anyone else?
Asomugha: I would say Randy Moss. I�ve said it a few times now, any time
I get the question, that�s going to be the answer. There are several
receivers in the league that are above everyone else and you�re going to
have to always bring you�re A-game for them, but Moss is a guy who
always seems to be in his prime. Even as he ages, you wonder when he�s
going to slow down, when he�s going to stop with all the tricks on the
field. When I say tricks I mean, the mental games that he plays with his
guys in terms of changing his routes, changing up his stance and things
like that. He�s a guy you�ve got to be prepared for each and every snap.
And I played with him for two years, but still couldn�t figure him out
the way that I would have liked to. I would say Moss.
Note: According to his P.R. firm, Asomugha will throw out the first
pitch Sunday when the Oakland A�s host the Los Angeles Angels.