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.

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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.

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