Raiders make final coaching hire in Jethro Franklin

The Raiders have hired University of Miami’s Jethro Franklin, the school announced Friday, to fill the only remaining coaching vacancy as defensive line coach.

Following the hiring of Ken Norton Jr. as defensive coordinator, the only remaining coaching position open is defensive line, one Franklin is familiar with.

Franklin coached the defensive line at USC while he and Norton Jr. worked together in 2005, and he also coached the Packers’ defensive line from 2000 to 2004, while Reggie McKenzie was an executive with the team.

Miami announces today that Jethro Franklin has a accepted a position with the NFL's Oakland Raiders.

— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) February 6, 2015

Franklin has also coached the defensive lines of the Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Fresno State University, Temple University, and an interim defensive line coach at UCLA.

Oakland’s coaching hires, with nearly a full turnover of fresh faces, have been both lauded and applauded thus far. Norton Jr.’s hiring received praise from defensive end Justin Tuck, who tweeted:

Well to say the least….I'm excited. Saw the news and when right to the gym. Damn I was gonna take the day off #nooffseason right

— Justin Tuck (@JustinTuck) February 6, 2015

Others approved of the hire:

The raiders are getting a great coach, that not only cares about the game but the players life on and off the field.

— Mike Morgan (@Mike17mo) February 6, 2015

If you've been to a Seahawks practice you know in losing Ken Norton to OAK the Hawks have lost their loudest, proudest & most intense coach

— Brock Huard (@BrockHuard) February 6, 2015

Norton’s gonna have them boys smackin I tell you that. Great former player, great coach! #RaiderNation

— Pastor Napoleon (@napoleonkaufman) February 6, 2015

The hiring of Bill Musgrave wasn’t met with the same display of pleasure, a relative nobody in the ever-changing world of professional football, who’d spent the previous season as a quarterbacks coach with Philadelphia.

Some found the move to be uninspiring, while others were merely flabbergasted.

Musgrave, though, seems the only new coach in Oakland that was met with much skepticism.

Jason Leskiw is SFBay’s Oakland Raiders beat writer and member of the Professional Football Writers of America. Follow @SFBay and @LeskiwSFBay on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of the Oakland Raiders.