As a long-time Oakland Raider fan, I too got caught up in the wave of positivity generated by the excellent offseason put together by Al Davis, Tom Cable, and the Raiders scouting team. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves; there's still a lot of work to do.
A great draft, good coaching hirings, and trades for great players are only pieces of the puzzle—there is more to it than just that. The new players and coaches have to be on the same page. If you were building a car, having the right parts means nothing without knowing how to put them together correctly.
Building a football team is no different. The parts have to be put in the right places in order for them to function properly.
Building chemistry is one of the keys.
One of the most difficult hurdles facing a team with a lot of new players is chemistry. Any time you put new talent, new personalities, and new egos together, growing pains are the result.
To overcome these pains, the coaching staff must fully understand the talent each player brings, how that talent fits the team, and who is going to have to move aside to allow the new player in.
Replacing a veteran player with a rookie or newly acquired player usually causes feelings to be hurt and animosity to arise. If you simply tell the incumbent player, "this guy has your job now," you're going to create an unnecessary rift. You have to know your players well enough to break this difficult news to them in a way that won't cause any more anger or division on your roster than is necessary.
If the coaching staff ignores chemistry, the team is destine to fail. However, if the staff understands the importance of this critical component, what motivates each player individually, and how to get them to play together and for one another, the whole will become more than the sum of its part...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
