Sad news about a former head coach of the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, as Tony Sparano passed away at the age of 56. The current offensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings, Sparano was named interim head coach of the Raiders back in 2014, taking over for Dennis Allen, and quickly got the respect of the locker room.
Sparano would not be retained after the 2014 season, clearing the way for Jack Del Rio to take over as head coach. Still, his contributions to the Raiders go well beyond his win-loss record in his short time as head coach, and guys like Donald Penn and Khalil Mack expressed their sense of loss via Twitter on Sunday.