ALAMEDA, Calif. — Being 51 years old has its advantages. Jack Del Rio made that perfectly clear on Friday at a press conference introducing him as the new head coach of the Oakland Raiders.

It has been awhile since Oakland was the sports capital of the world. But when Del Rio was growing up 15 miles south of the Oakland-Alameda County sports complex, he experienced the seemingly annual championship parades firsthand.

The 1970s were a special time in Oakland. The A’s won three consecutive World Series in 1972, ’73 and ’74. The Warriors captured the only NBA title in their West Coast existence in 1975. And the Raiders claimed their first Super Bowl win in 1976.

On Friday, Del Rio relived some of the highlights in his formal return to the East Bay. And then he stated something even more powerful: It’s his goal to help bring good times back to an area that has been without a professional title since 1989.

“The Warriors are playing pretty well right now,” Del Rio said of the club with the NBA’s best record. “And here comes the Raiders.”

The former standout at USC and 11-year pro with four different teams is the type of coach that Raiders fans have been searching for since John Madden retired.

The smash-mouth style Del Rio brought to the Jacksonville Jaguars for nine years reminds Raiders fans of the days when powerful running backs churned out yards behind Hall of Fame linemen, and when defenders got so up-close-and-personal with opponents that there was no mystery what they’d been served in the pregame meal.

His burning desire to return the Raiders to their glory days is a welcome relief after a coach, Dennis Allen, who wasn’t even born when George Blanda was winning Most Valuable Player trophies.

On his first day on the job Friday, Del Rio got every Raiders fan rushing to the local store for face paint when he made it clear his two favorite teams are the Raiders and whoever is playing the rival San Francisco 49ers.

“I take great pride in the Bay Area teams,” he said before quickly interjecting, “I’m an East Bay guy. You can’t be both (a Raiders and a 49ers fan). Don’t tell me you can be both.”

Del Rio has a lot of work to do before his vision becomes a reality, and he didn’t hesitate to acknowledge it in his first formal address to Raiders fans.

He knows what it takes to turn a franchise around. The Jaguars were 19-29 during a three-year span before Del Rio came in and led them to a winning record in his second season and to the playoffs in his third.

He sees potential in young quarterback Derek Carr and defensive anchor Khalil Mack. And he also sees a No. 4 draft pick in April and about $50 million in salary-cap space with which to quickly satisfy a hungry Raiders fan base.

“The goal is to bring back the Raiders to greatness,” he said. “We’ve fallen upon some hard times recently. But the foundation is in place for us to be great again.”

Raiders owner Mark Davis was so fired up about Del Rio’s passion at the press conference that he interrupted at one point to insist, “I want to hire him again!”

Whether Del Rio is successful in his quest probably will have a lot to do with what kind of recruiter he is. Admired at all eight of his NFL stops (four as a player, four as a coach), Del Rio hopes talented free agents will be attracted to his coaching style.

Make no mistake, even though Reggie McKenzie was retained as general manager, Del Rio will be a big part of the Raiders’ player-evaluation process. He assured that he gladly will complement the skills of McKenzie, whose 2014 draft was one of the league’s best.

“Reggie’s done a real nice job,” Del Rio said. “I said (to him): ‘If you have a lot of drafts like last year, we’re going to be in real good shape.'”

Del Rio’s ledger might show a 68-71 record as a head coach, but he believes he’ll be a lot better the second time around. Part of that confidence comes from his Jacksonville experience, part from being able to take a step back and observe John Fox in Denver, and part from now having a greater appreciation for the coaching influences in his life.

At the press conference, Del Rio took time to point out that Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll have proved successful after shaky starts to their coaching careers, and how Raiders players will experience a little of Jimmy Johnson, Dennis Green, Mike Ditka, Brian Billick and Tony Dungy when their new coach addresses them.

“We will bring toughness in everything we do,” Del Rio said, demonstrating part of the Ditka side in him. “I’m talking about physically and, most importantly, mentally. We want to empower the players to take the torch and build this thing up again.”

And if things aren’t moving forward at the pace he wants, as was the case when Jacksonville went 5-11 in his first season, Del Rio can always count upon his sense of determination to make the ghosts of Raiders past proud.

“This is a great organization,” he said. “There’s a great history of great coaches and players. And the fans here are the best. What has become Raider Nation. Having seen that greatness, what it should be here, really fuels me.”

How well will Del Rio’s Raiders play at O.co Coliseum next season? He can only hope as well as his Hayward High team did in the regional championship game in the same building in 1979.

On that night, Del Rio, playing middle linebacker, burst through the line early in the game and crushed the opponent’s quarterback, breaking his collarbone. Hayward went on to win the game 12-10.

John Matuszak would have been proud. Now it’s Del Rio’s job to get Khalil Mack and his mates to feel the same way.