Al Davis Did What? By Nick Haswell-Football Reporters Online

Al Davis Did What?
By Nick Haswell-Football Reporters Online

Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders just traded their 2011 First Round Draft Pick to the New England Patriots for Future Hall of Fame Defensive End Richard Seymour. This is just the latest transaction by the Raiders that proves the insanity of Owner Al Davis. It’s almost hard to imagine that the Raiders were participants in Super Bowl XXXVII, just 7 seasons ago. Since the morning of that game, where All-Pro Center Barrett Robbins went AWOL before the game, the Raiders have become the joke of the NFL. The Raiders have a record of 24-72 and a winning percentage of .250 since 2003, good for the worst record and winning percentage in the NFL. As Al Davis has gotten older, it seems that his roster moves and coaching hires have gotten crazier. Here is a look at the top 5 reasons that Al Davis has gone crazy since 2003:
5. Signing DE/DT Tommy Kelly to a seven-year, $50.5 million contract in 2008: A 4-year pro that has never been to a Pro Bowl and is coming off a torn ACL gets the largest contract ever for a defensive tackle. That’s exactly what the Raiders did by re-signing Tommy Kelly. Kelly was a defensive end his first four seasons in the NFL, but with Warren Sapp retiring, Al Davis was compelled to overpay to re-sign Kelly and move him and his 6-6, 300 lbs. frame to defensive tackle. But to sign Kelly to a contract that paid him more than Albert Haynesworth (in 2008), Kevin and Pat Williams, and Vince Wilfork is quite ridiculous.
4. Offering Head Coaching Position to Tom Cable following 2008 season: Tom Cable is a fine offensive line coach and has been a very successful offensive coordinator at the college level at Colorado and UCLA. But as a head coach, he has a less impressive resume. As a head coach at the University of Idaho from 2000 to 2003, Cable’s record was 11-35, with 4 consecutive losing seasons. After taking over for Lane Kiffin during the 2008 season, Cable led the Raiders to a 4-8 finish. His head coaching record is not exactly worthy of a head coaching position in the NFL.
3. Trading 2011 First Round Pick to Patriots for Richard Seymour: Trading for a future Hall of Famer is not a crazy idea. But trading away a First Round Draft Pick for a player that could only be in uniform for one season is. Not only could Richard Seymour not be on the Raiders past 2009, but given the Raiders past performance, the Raiders could lose a top 10 draft pick in 2011. And how much will this move improve the Raiders, to win 5 or 6 wins, instead of 4? But the Raiders and Al Davis are desperate to improve their run defense, which has been the worst in the NFL the past several seasons. But exactly where Seymour fits in Oakland’s defense is in question. Seymour has been a 3-4 defensive end his entire career. By being traded to the Raiders, Seymour either moves to a 4-3 defensive end or to a 3-technique defensive tackle, where Tommy Kelly is currently starting.
2. 2009 NFL Draft: Wide receivers Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin were still on the draft board when the Raiders drafted in the #7 overall spot in the 2009 NFL Draft. But Al Davis and the Raiders surprised everyone and drafted speedster receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey from Maryland. Davis and the Raiders are notorious for their love of players with speed, especially with skill position players. Heyward- Bey ran the fastest 40-time at the 2009 NFL Combine at 4.30 seconds. But he is not a polished route-runner and doesn’t possess the best hands. Heyward-Bey was projected as a late first or second round pick. And then in the second round the Raiders selected safety Mike Mitchell from Ohio. Mitchell was considered a late round pick, but Al Davis surprised everyone and took Mitchell early in the second round, when he could have taken him several rounds later.
1. Offering Head Coaching Position to Lane Kiffin: When Art Shell was fired by the Oakland Raiders in 2007, one of the first people Al Davis contacted for the open head coaching job was USC co-offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. After being rebuffed by Sarkisian, Davis moved on to bringing in Sarkisian’s co-coordinator at USC, Lane Kiffin. Despite never being a head coach at any level, or coaching a position at the NFL level (Kiffin was the offensive quality control coach for the Jaguars in 2000), Davis offered the position to Kiffin. Kiffin’s tenure with the Raiders was contentious, almost from the start. There were reports that Kiffin entertained the idea of leaving the Raiders for a college head coaching job before the end of the 2007 NFL Season. Reportedly, Al Davis drafted up Kiffin’s resignation papers following the 2007 season for Kiffin to sign, but Kiffin refused to sign them because he would lose a guaranteed $2 million by signing the papers. Al Davis needs a puppet as his head coach, as Davis has the last word on roster moves and coaching hires. Kiffin was not one who would cooperate with Al Davis in this capactity and his hiring and firing ended up turning the Raider organization into even more chaos.

Al Davis, Jim Fassel, and The Oakland Raiders Need For A Head Coach

Jim Fassel says he wants to coach the Oakland Raiders. I think he should hold off on that before he hears my take. To make it work, Mr. Davis, the Manager of the General Partner of the Raiders, needs to really give the head coach power to be...head coach. 

Raiders Davis Fires Kiffin by Phone

Raiders’ Davis Fires Kiffin by Phone (I guess smoke signals would have taken too long) By Dr. Bill Chachkes for Football Reporters Online

So what makes this time different from the last? Davis said he had the goods on Kiffin and that his conduct was detrimental to the Raiders organization, to the coaching staff and players, and to Davis personally.
“I had to let him Go” Stated Mr. Davis. Sounds like wall street letting go of a few billion and saying Opps, we messed up. It seems like they have messed up plenty of times before. What is Davis’ Excuse this time? “I Hired the wrong guy”, and “he’s A flat out Liar” was his answer. So then what was his excuse for Mike Shanahan? Norv Turner? Jon Gruden? all now successful with other teams. Two of them, Turner and Shanahan even in the same division.

Who will save the Raiders now that the silver is mottled with rust? Not Interim head coach Tom Cable. Not this mystery off-season hiring of an exec who will bring the Raiders back. “We’ll get back, the Raiders will be back” said Davis, who surely would be better off in a nursing home right now then at the Raiders offices. Al, please hang it up. You are hurting the poor Raiders fans, and the people of Brooklyn NY where you are from.

Oakland Raiders Talking With City - City Attorney John Russo Interview

I met with Oakland's elected City Attorney and my friend John Russo the day after election day to talk about his unopposed win for a third term, how Oakland has changed, Oakland Politics and the District Three Council race, who Senator Obama should pick as his VP, what Russo's is proudest of with the evolution of his office, and the talks between the City of Oakland and the Oakland Raiders.

Russo explains that the talks are between the Raiders and the Oakland / Alameda County Joint Powers Authority and that they're going well. He also confirmed that Raiders Manager of The General Partner Al Davis is not in good health and has not attended all of the meeting. As to the possibility that the Raiders would get a new stadium, he said no, but they're in agreement on the matters of concern to the Raiders.

Given what I know from trying to bring the 2005 Super Bowl to Oakland (we lost to Jacksonville), that means we should expect to see an upgraded Coliseum at some point in the future.

What was surprising news was that the Raiders were the party that initiated the talks, and not the City of Oakland or The County of Alameda. I personally feel that's a signal of the Raiders new willingness to work with the City and stay in Oakland.

Also, we talk about why he ran unopposed and how Oakland's political landscape has changed.

Raiders Owner Al Davis Treating Head Coach Lane Kiffin Like Turd

Ok. You read the title and I'm standing by it. Oakland Raiders Manager of The General Partner Al Davis is reportedly treating his still-newly-hired Head Coach Lane Kiffin like a turd. It's a hard statement but look at the reports.

Apparently this all started because Kiffin wanted to replace Raiders Defensive Coordinator Rex Ryan, who's leaky run defenses have cost the Silver and Black chances to win close games in 2007. But Lane Kiffin's actions were reportedly blocked by Davis himself. When Kiffin complained to Davis, the owner asked him to resign; he did not and for good reason: Kiffin would lose the salary he's due of $2 million annual for the rest of his contract.

More to come on this mess.

Regardless of the real truth, it's clear the Raiders are once again surrounded by soap-opera drama on the scale of a daytime show.

"Demote Lane Kiffin Blog" A Harbinger Of A Possible Raiders Future

I found this blog called "Demote Lane Kiffin" and created right after USC's loss to UCLA and aimed squarely and directly at Offensive Coordinator Lane Kiffin, who's now the Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders. It contains some interesting observations which fly in the face of the Raiders assertion that Kiffin's the right man to fix the offense. Here's a taste:

I agree wholeheartedly will all your views about the lame and unimaginative playing we have seen from USC's offensive side of the ball since Chow left. Kiffin has been outcoached since he has been offensive coordinator but was fortunate to have the talent last year to protect him from criticism. He is very inexperienced and is constantly being stopped by experienced defensive coordinators like we saw against UCLA. Like some coaches said after watching the UCLA game , he made no adjustments what so ever. Did he even think about running some outside screens to the running backs or wide receivers or maybe hmmmm I don't know keeping in more people to block so that Booty could find that mismatches that at WR that USC has?!?!? Yeah , I am upset USC lost but more furious on why we lost, poor coaching on the offensive side of the ball and that is not acceptable. Get rid of Kiffin now and insure that USC will remain a power house defensively and offensively.

And take a look here:

Anonymous said...
Thanks for the perspective, but 9 total points in a game is a little different than 9 total points in a half. Don't forget that the 2 superstars were present against Texas and the same play calling did not get it done-review the Texas game and see for yourself. In contrast, Norm's dissection of the Sooners is more than obvious and his adjustments: apparent. We are not saying fire Kiffin because he is not Norm Chow. Fire him because he is far from competent for this offense-if you don't think so watch the last 2 seasons and see the BS calls he consistently makes. Fire him because he is here based on connections and not talent or experience. Fire him because he has proven he is unable to drive this offensive machine. One side of the experiment has been proven: with Kiffin in control and 2 superstars we could not win a championship. With Kiffin in control and 2 superstars gone we could not win a championship. The formula is simple, superior talent + excellent coaching = success 2003-2004. Superior talent + poor coaching = close games and losses 2005-2006. Most likely, Kiffin is not going anywhere and we shall revisit this next year when Kiffin episode 3 comes to fruition.

And finally...

WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Our wishes and dreams have come true! Lane Kiffin, better than being fired, has been HIRED! Thanks to that genius in the Bay Area, Al Davis, the USC faithful no longer have to worry about inept play calling on offense to ruin our chances at another National Championship.

It looks like Steve Sarkisian will be the big man on Offense. I can live with that for now. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully he's learned more from Norm than Lane did about offensive changes and varied playcalling.

Ahhhh, it's a good day to be a Trojan!