Yahoo’s Jason Cole reports that Raiders owner Al Davis wants to fire head coach Tom Cable by the end of the season, but is working with the NFL to make sure that Cable can be fired for cause.
If Davis had any wherewithal, he’d fire himself as GM and allow real football-minded people to run the team. But Davis won’t do that and now it appears that the Raiders will be making a head coaching change for the second time in two years.
Davis is going to have one hell of a time filling the position, because no respectable coach wants that job. He won’t be able to hire a Mike Shanahan or Bill Cowher because there’s no way either men would want to assume that mess. Davis can cross Mike Holmgren’s name off the list too.
What the Raiders need most is a head coach that can somehow get through to quarterback JaMarcus Russell because if he can’t develop, then the franchise will continue to sputter. Or maybe it’s time for Davis to cut his losses and move forward without Cable and Russell, because it appears that the latter is destined to be a massive bust.
No matter how he handles the situation, it’s almost a guarantee that Davis will muck things up. He has a knack for making horrible decisions and he thinks it’s more important to have a head coach under his thumb than one that will run his football team the right way. After all, Cable was hired after Kiffin was let go because he served as a “yes man” to Davis.
According to San Francisco Chronicle writer David White, Raiders head coach Tom Cable will not be charged for assault on former assistant coach Randy Hanson. There is still a possibility that Roger Goodell could suspend Cable, but that seems unlikely seeing as how police didn’t charge the Oakland head coach.
With this behind them, the Raiders can now move on and look to build off of their surprising victory over the Eagles in Week 6. That said, one victory isn’t going to magically turn the tide for a franchise that is still in dire straits.
While Cable can breathe a sigh of relief that he isn’t heading to jail, he still has the unenviable task of trying to turn JaMarcus Russell into a pro quarterback. Oakland’s defense played great last week, but Russell still has major issues with consistency, accuracy and his mechanics.
By all accounts, it looks like the Raiders like playing for Cable. They might not give the best effort every week (see Week 5 against the Giants), but players don’t publicly out their head coach in the media. Maybe things will start to turn around for Oakland in the near future…
…wait, I blacked out for a second – is Al Davis still there? Ah, nevermind.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ—In an improbable display of competence and a basic execution of football fundamentals, the Oakland Raiders stunned the football world Sunday when running back Michael Bush miraculously rushed for three yards against the Giants and succeeded in converting a first down.
The Raiders, who fearlessly faced a third-and-one situation on their own 22-yard-line, somehow gained the 36 inches needed for an elusive first down, despite numerous obstacles that included a professional NFL defense, owner Al Davis’ incompetent personnel decisions, mediocre play-calling, and general ineptitude.
“I cannot believe what I just saw,” said CBS commentator Greg Gumbel, adding that he was amazed the Raiders advanced the ball beyond the line of scrimmage, let alone gained a full 10 yards. “The fact that they were out on the field for three consecutive plays without turning the ball over is incredible. But a first down? An actual first down from the Oakland Raiders? You…I mean—I just, I can’t…”
Given what I have heard today, I’d be very surprised to see Richard Seymour in Oakland without a new contract. Seymour has one year left on his existing deal and is less than thrilled about being dealt from New England to Oakland yesterday.
Short of agreeing to a long-term deal, this situation remains sticky. The sides have a few days to figure things out, and contrary to what Raiders coach Tom Cable said today, there are no issues between Seymour and the Patriots to resolve, according to New England and league sources. It’s the norm for veterans of Seymour’s stature to get new deals as part of such trades, and given how much the Raiders parted with to get him — a 2011 first-round pick — there is not much disputing his worth.
One would think that if Al Davis was willing to give up a first round pick to acquire Seymour then he’d also be willing to pay the defensive end what he wanted. Chances are that Davis would have tried to overpay for Seymour once he became a free agent this offseason, so it would be a little surprising to see him not work out a deal now with the defensive end.
There’s just no other explanation as to why they traded defensive end Richard Seymour to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for a first round pick in 2011.
From the Boston Globe:
The stunning trade came just eight days before the Patriots open their season against Buffalo on “Monday Night Football.’’ The trade of the five-time Pro Bowl defensive end leaves just four players that have been with New England for all three of its Super Bowl championship seasons (2001, 2003, and 2004) – Tom Brady, Matt Light, Kevin Faulk, and Stephen Neal – while, in the short term, weakening the team’s pursuit of another title by breaking up one of the NFL’s elite defensive lines.
This was the final season of the lucrative, $30-million-plus contract extension Seymour received in 2006, the last time he was entering the last year of his contract. He was set to make $3.685 million in base salary and carry a cap charge of $9.79 million this season.
While my joking in the intro of this post would make it seem like I disagree with this move, I actually think it’s a brilliant trade for the Patriots. Seymour is still incredibly effective, but he can’t seem to stay healthy and his play has fallen off in recent years. Plus, he’s in the final year of his contract and there was no guarantee that a) Seymour would re-sign with the Pats and b) New England would even want him back at an inflated price.
For as bad as the Raiders have been since their Super Bowl trip in 2002, the Pats could wind up picking in the top 10 come 2011. So not only did New England wind up getting a first round pick in exchange for Seymour, but they also found a trade partner that is notorious for picking high in drafts. (I realize there’s no guarantee that the Raiders will be bad in 2011, but if recent history is any indication, they should be picking near the top of the draft in two years.)
For Oakland, Al Davis definitely upgraded his talent on the defensive side of the ball. But Seymour won’t be a difference maker on a team that is incredibly devoid of defensive playmakers outside of Nnamdi Asomugha and Kirk Morrison.
Raiders coach Tom Cable made the unstunning declaration during a conference call, all while lamenting how Jeff Garcia’s calf strain kept a true quarterback competition from breaking out in training camp.
It’s not that Cable wanted Garcia to beat out Russell. The job was Russell’s to lose. It’s just that Cable hoped Garcia would use his experience and fiery attitude to spur Russell to greater growth.
This is the season Russell has to step up and stop relying on the excuse that he’s still learning. He’s entering his third year and while Oakland doesn’t have the greatest line in which to play behind, Al Davis has surrounded Russell with more than enough playmakers to be effective.
I don’t think the Raiders are expecting Russell to post a 100-plus QB Rating and lead the league in touchdowns. But they do expect him to look more comfortable in the pocket, not overthrow his receivers by 20 feet and most importantly, to work hard and be a leader.
According to a report by Nancy Gay of AOL Fanhouse, Raiders head coach Tom Cable fractured the jaw of defensive assistant Randy Hanson during a fight early in training camp. But Cable denies that punches were thrown and ESPN.com is reporting that Hanson suffered the jaw injury when Cable flipped him out of his chair.
That’s backed up by what former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. Jeremiah’s “reliable source” said that Hanson broke a facial bone when his cheek hit a cabinet in a team meeting room when Cable flipped him out of his chair.
Jeremiah also wrote on his Twitter page that Cable reacted when Hanson spoke profanely to defensive coordinator John Marshall. Cable rebuked Hanson, then pushed his chair, which caused the injury.
There seems to be little doubt that something did take place between Cable and Hanson, but the details are shaky. There apparently was an argument between the two coaches and physical contact did occur, but it appears that Gay’s original report that Cable punched Hanson seems to be false.
Regardless, it’s hard not to appreciate this kind of news coming out of Raiders’ camp. I would question whether or not a report like this was true anywhere else, but not in Oakland.
Al Davis has to be loving himself some Tom Cable right about now.
If you’ve never seen Al Davis rap, you’re going to want to check out the latest ‘toon by the guys at Bang! Cartoon because it might be their best to date. Aside from handing Al the mic, Bang! also checks in with the Bengals as they prepare for HBO’s latest edition of “Hard Knocks” and have an update on Brett Favre and “Retirement III.”
Even though his agent Joel Segal recently stated that his client is putting football “on the back burner”, Peter King of SI.com lists five potential suitors for Michael Vick once the NFL decides to reinstate him.
1. New Orleans Saints
I think coach Sean Payton could sell it pretty easily to selfless and egoless quarterback Drew Brees by telling him Vick’s not coming in to take your job, only coming in to play five to 10 snaps a game in some Wildcat/running back/receiver capacity. Saints owner Tom Benson wants to win badly.
2. Oakland Raiders
Because Al Davis is Al Davis, and he doesn’t care what we think, or what PETA thinks, and because he loves athletes more than any other owner in football.
Personally, I think the only person with the kahones to take Vick on would be Al Davis in Oakland. I don’t disagree with any of King’s reasoning for the other teams, but in the end, most owners will to be scared off by the potential consequences that come with signing Vick.
But as King alluded to, Davis doesn’t give a wet fart about anything but winning and if he feels Vick will help him win, he’ll bring him on board. I just hope Davis is dumb enough to trade for Vick and the Falcons get something in return for all of their troubles.
Current Redskin and former Raiders’ cornerback DeAngelo Hall appeared on a Washington D.C. based radio show recently and told an interesting story about Oakland owner Al Davis not knowing who Tom Cable was when he hired him.
The funniest Al Davis story from his time in Oakland?
“Probably the funniest thing, I was pretty close to Lane Kiffin…and after they fired Lane and were about to announce who the next coach was – I don’t know if you guys saw this in the media world, but I was actually sitting there live, me and a couple other players there in the back. And [Davis] went through this whole spiel of what happened…and said our next coach is Tom Cable, he’s going to be our interim coach. When everybody paused for Tom to come in, like a breakoff. [Davis] goes to the media guide and not even whispering says ‘hey, anyone got any information on this Tom Cable guy, I don’t know where he comes from.’ That’s just vintage Al Davis. Making a move, not really knowing why, no real justification for doing it. But just saying, ‘hey, I want this guy, let’s get him, I’ll figure everything else out later.’ And that’s just how Al Davis is.”
His thoughts on being out of Oakland:
“Oh, it’s a weight off my shoulders, just that whole situation out there and the way they did things. I’m not knocking it but it wasn’t what I was accustomed to, what I was used to, and I just started just not caring like a bunch of other guys, you know. It kind of rubs off on you. They say you go to Oakland as a player to die..You can definitely go there and have fun towards the end of your career, but to go there during the prime of your career, that’s just not a place you want to be. I felt the same when I was out of there – just a sigh of relief to get out of there.”
For as zany as Al Davis is, I highly doubt he would hire a head coach not knowing who he was. I also highly doubt that Davis would say what Hall says he did in front of an entire media staff. (And loud enough for Hall to hear it in the back, but not loud enough for the media members to hear it in the front.) It just sounds like Davis didn’t know where Cable was from (i.e. where he was born, raised, bred, etc.), which isn’t as big of a deal as Hall making it sound like Davis hired Cable not knowing who he was.
His second comment is vintage Hall and vintage Raiders. Hall isn’t saying anything that former Raiders haven’t said before about the situation in Oakland, but it doesn’t surprise me in the least that he says that he stopped caring. The Raiders handed him a $70 million contract and $24 million in guaranteed money and he couldn’t even make it half a season without throwing in the towel. I know the situation in Oakland lends to guys quitting, but it pisses you off when you hear about guys making millions of dollars to play football and they just go through the motions. (Especially in this economy.)
