I can't envision a situation where someone of sound mind would agree to take the Raiders' head coaching gig, given what's happened since owner Al Davis fired Bill Callahan in 2003. We've seen Norv Turner, Art Shell, Lane Kiffin and now Tom Cable amass 17 wins in four-plus seasons. Staggering. So maybe Oakland's best hope is to find an eager, young, bright football mind, someone who would use the opportunity to get some experience, while changing the culture of losing in the process. You know, somebody like, say, Lane Kiffin.
Or maybe not. The New York Daily News' Gary Myers has a suggestion:
Former Giants coach Jim Fassel fits the profile to be the Raiders' next head coach: He wants to coach again. After the Lane Kiffin disaster, Al Davis is not going to hire another coach barely out of diapers. The hot assistants are not going to want that land mine as their first NFL head coaching job. So that leaves the recycled coaches.Myers points out that Fassel lost out to Herm Edwards in Kansas City, Scott Linehan in St. Louis and Kiffin in Oakland, which raises more questions than it answers, I think. Fassel, who took the Giants to the Super Bowl in 2000, couldn't beat out three guys who have subsequently run their respective teams into the ground, and two of them have already been fired?
Oh, and Brian Billick, allegedly Fassel's best friend, fired him as the Ravens offensive coordinator a few seasons ago.
This morning, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that Fassel sent Davis a hand-written letter expressing his interest in the Raiders job, which makes me believe that Fassel was domed with a piano recently. Here's the thing: Davis could reunite Bill Belichick, Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis and the Raiders would still win four games.
More pithily: Oakland will be a laughingstock as long as Davis is running the show. This concludes the blatantly obvious portion of this post.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-18-2008 @ 5:02PM
ace said...
The Raiders will be back sooner than everyone thinks. True, Davis is a mayor reason for their dysfunction. But, he will relent eventually and let the coach do his job without interference.
ace
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12-04-2008 @ 8:00PM
Chris said...
When do you think this may happen?? Myself, I don't think Al will EVER let the coach do his job without interference.
I would like to believe what you say, I just don't because of Al.
I've been a Raider fan since I was about 6 years old, I am 48 now and have seen some great games, and Al was there most of that time, but he is still living in the 70's and 80's this is the 2000's the 21st century .... Come on Raiders. If I were the Raiders coach I would not do every thing Al said to do I would do it my way, if Im going to get fired, I want to be fired for doing what I think is right in this century not him.
4-01-2009 @ 9:36PM
juice said...
isn't that what kiffin tried to do? i too have been bleeding silver and black since childhood... but i have a difficult time believing that davis will be able to survive a full season without interfering with the head coach and his staff. i do believe that fassel could help bring this very talented young team back to it's (nearly) relatively recent winning ways... but you have a very short window of opportunity when you're under the crypt keeper himself. davis' love for JaMarcus is great... but he still needs time to develop. That rocket arm is nice to have but he needs time to learn and improve his consistency. he is the future... but the future is just not quite here yet. am i crazy for thinking that we should give Michael Vick a shot? I suspect it wouldn't cost very much given his current circumstances and given the number of soon to be available and talented qbs out there this year... and he's proven that he knows how to play the game... anybody remember those '04 and '06 seasons?? maybe i am a little crazy... but what i'm really looking for as a true raider fan is somebody who can come in and produce... and with Huggy Bear Fargas and Run DMC in the backfield I feel that this might be a deadly combination ... even if it is true that the average age of our receiving core is 11.5 years. might be fun to watch.
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