Las Vegas Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia thanks Jon Gruden, looks to move team forward

Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia met the media on Wednesday for the first time since former coach Jon Gruden's resignation, vowing to rely on veteran players and coaches to keep the team moving forward.

Bisaccia, a longtime assistant and special teams coach under Gruden with the Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, began his first news conference with a statement acknowledging the unusual circumstances.

"Coach Gruden gave me a chance to coach in NFL. I'll always be appreciative of that. That being said, we all have a responsibility here to be accountable to our words and our actions," he said.

"No one person is bigger than the Raiders shield. The Raiders have always stood for diversity, inclusion, social justice. It's important to live those ideals and carry them into the future. We cannot change the past, but we can do more to maybe make tomorrow better."

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Bisaccia described the events of Monday - from when The New York Times broke its story about homophobic and misogynistic emails Gruden had sent over a seven-year period to Gruden submitting his resignation to him being named interim head coach - as "a blur."

After a standard off day on Tuesday, Bisaccia conducted his first practice before meeting the media.

"No one wants to be a head coach in this particular situation," he said. "No one wants to be put in front of this under these particular circumstances. But it's an incredible opportunity, not only for me but for all the other coaches that are here, to see what we can do with this adversity, see what we can do with this challenge."

While Gruden also called the plays as head coach, Bisaccia said he would turn over those duties to offensive coordinator Greg Olson going forward. In addition to serving two stints with the Raiders (2013-14, 2018-20), Olson has also served as offensive coordinator for the Rams, Lions, Buccaneers and Jaguars.

The Raiders take a record of 3-2 into their game this Sunday at Denver.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia embraces 'adversity,' 'challenge'