Bruce Irvin seems to think Raiders players aren’t buying into Ken Norton’s defense

Among the hot topics surrounding the Raiders at the start of their offseason is defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr. Many fans were unhappy the defense added talent but was as bad if not worse than last season.

But at least one of the players on that defense still has full faith in what Norton can accomplish as defensive coordinator:

Ken Norton jr. ✊🏾🙌🏾👏🏾👏🏾

— Bruce Irvin (@BIrvin_WVU11) January 10, 2021

The system has been proven the shit works! I know that first hand everyone must buy in!

— Bruce Irvin (@BIrvin_WVU11) January 10, 2021

Bruce Irvin came from Seattle where Ken Norton, Jr. was his position coach and it’s widely known that he credits Norton with his success in the NFL. Because of that, it’s not very surprising that Irvin is solidly behind Norton. But what is surprising is that the tweets seem to indicate Irvin believes the problem on defense is players aren’t buying into what Norton is selling.

If that is the case, this is a rather big problem for the Raiders. Norton has been the defensive coordinator for two seasons now and typically, you want the team buying in fully during your first offseason.

If Bruce Irvin is right and players aren’t buying in, it would explain a lot. Many of the problems on defense have come from mental errors or a lack of discipline. A lack of belief or “buy in” for your defensive coordinator would explain the lack of focus and all of the mental errors.

For now, all indications are that the Raiders will be keeping Ken Norton, Jr. next season. If so, we had better all hope he figures out a way to get his players to buy in. Assuming, of course, that Bruce Irvin is right and the problem is a lack of buy in rather than a poor scheme.