Two months after being hired, now-former Washington offensive coordinator Jim Michalczik is leaving the school for a position with the Oakland Raiders, the Seattle Times is reporting.
Michalczik came to Washington along with head coach Steve Sarkisian after serving as an assistant with California since 2002. In addition to his offensive coordinator duties with the Huskies, he was also the offensive line coach.
The coach is widely regarded as one of the top offensive line coaches not only in the PAC-10, but in the nation as a whole. While his move to Washington from Cal was a stunner, this move to Oakland trumps even that as it came from somewhat out of the blue.
Michalczik and new Raiders head coach Tom Cable are longtime friends and associates, and that relationship no doubt played a part in the move.
It’s unknown at this time what position he will handle with the Raiders, although, given his experience, another OL coaching position would certainly seem to be in the offing.
UPDATE: The Oakland Tribune is reporting that Michalczik has indeed been hired as the Raiders’ new offensive line coach.
Raiders coach Tom Cable wasted little time in completing his staff by hiring former Cal coach Jim Michalczik on Monday to be his offensive line coach. The move came only five days after managing general partner Al Davis introduced Cable as the full-time coach. Cable was entrusted with hiring offensive, defensive and special teams coordinators, as well as three other positions. He has hired six new coaches since the season ended Dec. 28 and re-assigned five others to new positions. It remains to be seen whether Cable will retain or hire any quality control coaches. "This hire completes our 2009 coaching staff, with the exception, perhaps, of a quality control position or two," Raiders senior executive John Herrera said. Michalczik's arrival moves the needle more than usual in terms of an offensive line coach, for more than one reason. Bay Area fans are familiar with him from his recent seven-year stint with Cal, and the bizarre path he took in getting to the Raiders provides a measure of revenge for an embarrassing series of events from a little more than two years ago. Davis interviewed then-Southern Cal co-offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian for the Raiders coaching vacancy in January of 2007. Things went so well that Davis permitted Sarkisian to send for fellow Southern Cal co-offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin so that Davis could interview him about being the Raiders offensive coordinator. A few days later, Davis offered the coaching job to Sarkisian. He Sarkisian was hired by the University of Washington in December. Michalczik was one of the first coaches he targeted. Ultimately, Sarkisian lured away Michalczik with a three-year contract reportedly worth in excess of $1 million to be the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. However, Michalczik wasn't thrilled about the prospect of moving his family to Washington and didn't sign the contract. The Raiders offer solved that problem and created a new one for Sarkisian. Michalczik spent the past seven seasons at Cal. He was the assistant head coach under Jeff Tedford, as well as the team's co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach last year. Tedford credited Michalczik with turning Cal's offensive line into one of the best in the Pac-10. Michalczik's arrival enables Cable to concentrate on matters besides the offensive line for a change. Cable coached the offensive line the past two seasons. However, he was forced to broaden his responsibilities once he replaced Kiffin. Cable still helped with the offensive line, though assistant James Cregg assumed a heightened role. He also took over offensive play-calling duties from then-offensive coordinator Greg Knapp for the final eight games.
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