Below is a transcript from Jim Fassel's appearance on The Opening Drive" on SIRIUS NFL Radio with hosts Bob Papa and Randy Cross.
Fassel was the Raiders offensive coordinator from 1990-92 and quarterbacks coach in 1995.
It was recently reported that he sent a letter to Al Davis to make his pitch to be the next Raiders head coach.
Fassel doesn't know "what the big deal is" because he communicates with a lot of people in the NFL.
Is he trying to get a job with everyone he communicates with? Who knows?
Randy Cross: "Having your name associated with a job, is that a positive in your mind?"
Jim Fassel: "You know, Randy, I don't really know. I really don't know what's going on and really I've kind of tried to not figure it out anymore. I enjoy what I'm doing and if somebody says we want to go hire a veteran coach [who's] got a winning record and all that, fine. I enjoy what I'm doing. It's interesting. That story broke a couple of days ago and I think, 'Oh, good, I'm going to New York and I'm going to be doing a lot of media and then tomorrow I'm going to be on ESPN all day,' and I thought, 'You know what, I'm going to get that question all the time.' I can honestly say this and I mean this with all sincerity. I know Al Davis. I've talked to him at different times and I've worked for him and I can honestly say, I can't speak for everybody, but I can honestly say the year I was there (as QBs coach in 1995) - we were doing good now, we were lighting it up pretty good on offense until we lost [QB Jeff] Hostetler - he never interfered with me one time. I think he called me a couple of times and asked me a couple of things and said, 'Well, if you need anything just let me know. Other than that, just keep on doing what we're doing, I guess.' He didn't interfere at all. He treated me great. He paid me really good money and we did this. So I don't have the same problem that, maybe, other people do. I'm just going to see what jobs open up and who is interested in me and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work."
Bob Papa: "Have there been any conversations with Mr. Davis or is this just all media speculation at this point?"
Fassel: "No, we haven't had any conversations and the thing is some of the things got blown out of proportion. I kind of ride the fence. I've been [in] coaching and I understand the one side of it. And I'm in the media on the other side of it [where] everybody's trying to find out everything and magnify it. My job now is I communicate with a lot of people in the NFL. I write letters, I get e-mails, I get calls, people want to know something from me, they want this or that or to find out about this. I get calls from all kinds of people. The only people I don't talk to are players. I never talk to players. When I left the Giants I didn't want to call those guys because it's not right. I communicate with all kinds of people and if somebody said I wrote a letter to Al Davis and make a big deal out of it, do you want a list of how many people I've talked to over the last six months about NFL and things? I do it all the time. I don't know what the big deal is."
--Jason Jones
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