Oakland Raiders Part Ways with Defensive Coordinator Ken Norton Jr.

The Oakland Raiders will continue the season with a new man responsible for defense coordinating duties.

Oakland Raiders at a football game against Kansas City in 2017. Photo by Thurman James/CSM/REX/Shutterstock

In a brief statement on Tuesday, the Oakland Raiders have announced that they are parting ways with their defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. The decision came after the Raiders suffered a heavy defeat from the New England Patriots on Sunday. Team’s assistant head coach John Pagano will take defensive coordinator duties instead of Norton. The news has been confirmed on the Raiders official Twitter account and website.

After careful thought, I have made a difficult decision to part ways with Ken Norton, Jr. as defensive coordinator,” – said the Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio. “I have the utmost respect for Ken as a person and as a coach, but I feel that moving John Pagano into the play-calling role will best utilize his wealth of experience. I appreciate Ken’s passion and commitment to the Raiders since coming aboard and wish him the best going forward.

According to ESPN, the Raiders have allowed their opponents to complete 72.3 percent of their passes this season. The team also didn’t record any interceptions in their first 10 games. They have also been one of the poorest-ranked teams in allowed yards. This season, the team is ranked 26th with 3,670 total yards allowed, the same one they ended the last season with.

Ken Norton Jr. played 13 seasons of professional football as a linebacker for Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers. During his career he received three Pro Bowl selections and one First-team All-Pro honors. Norton will go down in the history of NFL as the only player who managed to win three consecutive Super Bowls.

As a coach, Norton first assumed the linebackers coach duties at Southern California, being later promoted to assistant head coach. His first coaching job in NFL was linebackers coach for the Seattle Seahawks from 2010 to 2014. In 2015 he took the defensive coordinator job with the Oakland Raiders.

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