The Scores Report - The National Sports Blog » Tom Cable

Cable seeking other jobs outside of Oakland?

Anthony Stalter — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:19 +0000

One of the more interesting storylines so far as the NFL heads into its offseason is the one brewing in Oakland regarding Tom Cable’s job.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported last week that Cable’s job is secure for now and that he would coach the Raiders in 2010. But now Jason La Confora reports that Al Davis still hasn’t decided whether or not to retain Cable as his head coach. Now reports are surfacing that Cable has already begun to look for jobs in other cities.

From the National Football Post:

All last week, there was speculation that current Raiders head coach Tom Cable might be interested in an offensive line position with another team. In fact, one team was calling around looking for recommendations on him. That doesn’t happen if the coach is secure.

If Cable has already begun to look for other jobs, it’s not a bad idea on his part. Davis has always done things his way, which usually means he makes rash decisions before thinking things through. He could fire Cable at any point this offseason if he finds a replacement that he likes.

I can already tell that this is going to be a great storyline throughout the offseason. Of course, whenever Al Davis is involved in something, it always makes for interesting news.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Report: Raiders to keep Tom Cable

Anthony Stalter — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:50:18 +0000

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Tom Cable will remain the Raiders head coach in 2010.

When contacted, Raiders spokesman John Herrera did not confirm that Cable would remain coach for the 2010 season, saying only that, despite meetings into the night the past two days, no decision has been reached.

Cable had one year remaining on his contract. But after meeting with Cable again this week, Davis made a decision that will be popular among players by keeping his head coach in place, the source said.

Cable had widespread support throughout the players in the Raiders locker room.

But his return does not mean changes will not be made. Oakland will tinker with its assistant coaches. It did so Friday when it brought back defensive line coach Mike Waufle.

I like this move by Al Davis, especially after the Raiders played hard under Cable down the stretch. That said, Cable isn’t guaranteed anything after 2010, with this being the last year of his contract.

This is horrible news for former No. 1 overall bust JaMarcus Russell, who Cable would rather eat shards of glass than play. Davis may want Russell on the field, but with Cable in charge it doesn’t look good for Russell.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Report: Raiders haven’t talked to any coaching candidates

Anthony Stalter — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:15:10 +0000

Profootballtalk.com is reporting that the Raiders haven’t spoken with any candidates to replace Tom Cable as their next head coach.

In response to a San Francisco Chronicle report that the Oakland Raiders have interviewed Jim Fassel and Marc Trestman to potentially replace Tom Cable as head coach and another report (from the original false rumor monger) that the team spoke to Jim Harbaugh about the job, a team official tells Steve Corkran of the Oakland Tribune that no candidates have been interviewed.

“The reports that we’ve interviewed prospective head coaches are totally untrue, totally false,” Raiders senior executive John Herrera said.

Fassel has denied that he has heard from the team, and the agent for Marc Trestman has said that Trestman has not been contacted, either.

A league source has confirmed this information (since, frankly, it’s not always prudent to accept at face value the self-serving stuff disseminated by any team), and we’re also told that there has been no effort to interview Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride or Packers assistant head coach/inside linebackers coach Winston Moss. To interview either of these men, the Raiders would be required to submit a written request for permission to conduct the interview, and the request for permission contains a space requiring the team seeking permission to specify the job for which the candidate would be interviewed.

The San Francisco Chronicle wasn’t the only media outlet to report that the Raiders had been talking to candidates, as ESPN.com reported on Wednesday that the team had spoken with Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh about possibly replacing Cable.

Profootballtalk.com has been stretchy at best with its reporting. Sometimes they’re dead on, sometimes they’re so far off that it makes you wonder if they make rumors up for traffic hits, so take this information with a grain of salt.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Report: Raiders pursuing coaching candidates

Anthony Stalter — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:01:12 +0000

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Raiders owner Al Davis has been actively pursuing head coaching candidates for weeks.

Two people on his interview list have been identified as former Giants coach Jim Fassel, who now coaches UFL champion Las Vegas, and former Raiders offensive coordinator Marc Trestman, the head coach of CFL champion Montreal.

Several sources, including one within the organization, believe Davis may re-interview 2009 candidates Kevin Gilbride, the Giants’ offensive coordinator, and Winston Moss, a Packers assistant head coach, if he hasn’t already.

If Davis has indeed made a decision on Cable, no one with the organization either knows or is talking about it. His inner circle is as small as it is airtight. If anyone knows Davis’ plans, they’re not saying.

This is typical Al Davis, making rash decisions without thinking anything through. Did he not know that word would eventually get out that he was looking for a replacement for Cable? Why not fire Cable and get that part over with, so future candidates don’t have to worry about interviewing for a job that isn’t open yet?

Whoever takes over that job will be either desperate or clinically insane. Those are the only two options, because no one in their right mind would want to coach a team with JaMarcus Russell on the roster and Al Davis in the owner’s box.

Update: Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh rejected an offer to become the Raiders’ next head coach according to ESPN.com.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Will Davis try to get out of paying Cable?

Anthony Stalter — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:56:38 +0000

Michael Lombardi of The National Football Post reports that Al Davis is likely to fire head coach Tom Cable, but also speculates that the owner could fire Cable for “cause” to get out of paying him.

4. Raiders coach Tom Cable also might be heading into his final meeting this week, but besides being terminated, I wonder if we might get another overhead projector press conference from the Raiders announcing they’ve fired Cable for cause? If he does get fired, which I hear is likely, expect him to file a grievance to continue getting the rest of his money.

As he often does, Davis is walking down a dangerous path here. He fired Lane Kiffin for “cause” two years ago and if turns around and does the same thing with Cable, then what coach in their right mind would want to come to Oakland? You mean, I get to deal with the mess that is Al Davis and not get paid for it? Sign me up!

Cable may have some character flaws, but Davis can’t try to get out of paying a guy because of something that happened years before his employment. That would be a classless, stupid move by Davis and I’m sure a judge would rule in Cable’s favor anyway. So why go through with the move if you’re Davis? (Uh, besides the fact that he’s nuts and he does things without thinking of the consequences.)

If Davis keeps JaMarcus Russellbust but fires Cable, then that would be a mistake. If Daivs keeps Russellbust, fires Cable and then tries to get out of paying him, then that would just be boneheaded.

But then again, what else could we expect from Al Davis?

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Did Russell ditch Raiders for Las Vegas?

Anthony Stalter — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:00:37 +0000

Beat writer David White of the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting “someone using the name JaMarcus Russell checked into The Palms in Las Vegas” the day after Russell was excused from a team meeting for “personal reasons.”

White notes that this could potentially save Tom Cable’s job in Oakland.

Russell is believed to be the major sticking point between Cable, who benched Russell after nine games, and Davis, who preaches patience for his prized No. 1 overall draft pick.

Russell has been criticized by Cable publicly, and teammates privately, for not working hard enough off the field. The reason reporters knew about Russell’s absence Monday was because of a tip from a teammate in the locker room who couldn’t hide his disgust.

Cable can take Russell’s Vegas-over-team trip to show Davis the extent of his disconnect from the rest of the team. Maybe Davis will see Cable handled Russell the right way all along, that his struggles were about more than Xs and Os.

That, or Davis says about Russell what he said about Randy Moss in September — that the Raiders failed him. If that’s his stance, then yeah, Cable is gone.

If Davis choices Russell over Cable it would be a colossal mistake. Russell will never live up to his lofty expectations because he’s not prepared to put in the work. Furthermore, he doesn’t have the overall talent. (It takes more than a strong arm to be a quarterback in the NFL, which he has proven time and time again.)

If this rumor/report (not sure what to call it) is true, then Russell should be released immediately. I don’t know how much proof Davis needs to unload that gigantic bust. That said, maybe Russell really did have a “personal” issue to attend to, so we’ll just have to wait and see if more details emerge.

I don’t want to make Cable out to be Vince Lombardi, but he proved this season that he’s capable of winning games. With Russell on the bench, the Raiders showed promise down the stretch and actually fought hard under Cable. He wasn’t Oakland’s biggest problem this season and deserves a shot to see what he can do without worrying about Russell infecting the team with his horrible play.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Report: Tom Cable likely to be fired

Anthony Stalter — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:52:42 +0000

According to the San Jose Mercury News, “all signs point to” the Raiders firing Tom Cable this offseason.

In the Raiders’ case, that means parting ways with coach Tom Cable and hitching their floundering franchise to another coach who has a fresh set of ideas and the patience to put up with quarterback JaMarcus Russell.

Managing general partner Al Davis has yet to weigh in publicly on the matter.

However, several people close to Davis say he is inclined to fire Cable and hire a new coach for the sixth time since Jon Gruden was jettisoned after the 2001 season.

When asked if he is expecting to be the coach next season, Cable said: “I am, because I see, and you all see, too, where this team is going, and what we’ve been able to accomplish in proving some things.

If Davis fires Cable and keeps Russell, that would be yet another horrendous decision in a long line of horrendous decisions by Al Davis. I’m not necessarily suggesting that Cable should be retained, but what has Russell shown in four years that would make Davis (or any owner, coach or water boy for that matter) want to keep him? Russell is absolutely abysmal and shows zero signs of ever becoming a professional quarterback.

At the very least, Cable should be credited for benching Russell and having a little success with castaways like Bruce Gradkowski and Charlie Frye. The Raiders were actually competitive with Gradkowski and Frye under center, not so much with the biggest bust in NFL history. Personally, that merits Cable keeping his job for at least another year. He’s not the Raiders’ biggest problem – Davis is, with a little aid from Russell.

We’ll see if Cable is inevitably gets the boot, although if I were a Raider fan I’d currently have that horrible, Al-Davis-is-about-to-screw-us feeling in the pit of my stomach.