ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Tony Sparano made a point of saying how much he respects Dennis Allen, the man he is replacing as Oakland Raiders head coach.

Yet, Sparano made it clear things are going to change as he takes over the Raiders for the final 12 games of the season.

“I think things can change with philosophies,” Sparano said. “I respect Dennis Allen tremendously, but I’m not Dennis, Dennis is not me and so on and so forth. Things can change with philosophies and that will be the case. We will have a different philosophy. I don’t need to share that right now, maybe share it with the players tomorrow.”

It sounds like the changes may be partly schematic and may be subtle in nature. He said he doesn’t have a problem with the offensive and defensive play calling of coordinators Greg Olson and Jason Tarver.

In other notes from a busy Tuesday with the Raiders:

• Expect the Jon Gruden talk to be a hot topic for the next few months. Here are my thoughts on the subject from earlier today. Again, there will were be rumors, as in the past, but a lot of things will have to happen for Mark Davis to secure Gruden.

• Davis said he and Allen traded phone messages after the dismissal. Davis spoke highly of Allen and said it was difficult to see the coach and his family go through this experience. Davis lauded the effort Allen put into the team.