Raiders’ Tarver couldn’t be more home-grown

There’s NorCal homegrown. And then there’s Jason Tarver.

This guy isn’t just the Oakland Raiders new defensive coordinator.

Oh no. He’s a Pleasanton-raised, Santa-Clara-attending, Stanford-coaching, 49ers-aiding NorCal smorgasbord.

Tarver started his football career in high school, playing safety for Foothill High out in Pleasanton and receiving a scholarship to play at Santa Clara.

He then played and coached at West Valley College before getting hired by Steve Mariucci and spending 10 years with the 49ers. Under the Red & Gold, he bounced from quality control coach, to offensive assistant coach, to outside linebackers coach.

When Señor Harbaugh came to the 49ers in 2011, Tarver traded places and headed to the farm. Under Tarver, Stanford’s defense was ranked either first or second in the Pac-12 in six defensive categories. Not bad.

Homeboy has history with every Bay Area team. Excluding Cal… Maybe they’re in his future, just to round out the résumé.

Bay Area affiliation aside, I like this Tarver guy. He’s brainy—he got his masters in biochemistry and molecular biology—which will compliment head coach Dennis Allen’s disciplinarian rule.

And, when Tarver wants to bring a little California cool to the coaching staff, I don’t think anyone would object.