Is the most dysfunctional team in sports the New York Knicks or the Oakland Raiders? BTW, the Raiders put out a release denying there are any issues with Kiffin. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/don_banks/01/25/raiders.kiffin/?eref=mostpop Mr. Freeze-out Owner Davis trying to force Kiffin's exit from Raiders Posted: Friday January 25, 2008 7:21PM; Updated: Friday January 25, 2008 8:06PM Jeff Gross/Getty Images Exhibiting the usual combination of the surreal and the bizarre that has become the Raiders' trademark, the latest saga in Oakland will likely result in Lane Kiffin's tenure as head coach ending after just one season -- by either termination or resignation. That's the picture that has emerged this month in Oakland, where team owner Al Davis, according to league sources, is all but ignoring Kiffin's presence within the team offices, to the point of not even allowing his coach to attend meetings involving personnel decisions, draft planning or free-agency evaluation. Kiffin being excommunicated within the Raiders' own building is said to be in retaliation for Davis getting wind of Kiffin's recent clandestine pursuit of both the Arkansas and UCLA head coaching jobs, which have subsequently been filled. Kiffin and his right-hand man, director of football development Mark Jackson, have been disinvited to any meeting this offseason that has a bearing on the Raiders' future personnel decisions, a league source said. Kiffin's entire assistant coaching staff attends those meetings, along with Davis, but are barred from sharing details of what was discussed with the head coach. Clearly, there's an ugly showdown going on behind closed doors in Oakland, with Davis trying to prompt Kiffin's resignation after just one 4-12 season, and Kiffin not yet willing to walk away from the final two years of his contract, believed to be worth about $2 million per season. If Kiffin eventually leaves, his possible replacement could be a familiar name that seemingly has been mentioned in connection with almost every Raiders head coaching search in the past 15 years or so: Dennis Green. While the former Vikings and Cardinals head coach is unlikely to submit to formally interviewing given the depth of his relationship with Davis -- they date to his days in the Bay Area as a 49ers assistant and Stanford head coach -- Green has been intrigued for years with the prospect of coaching the Raiders. "It's the same dance,'' said a league source. "Al Davis has been flirting with the idea of hiring Dennis Green for how long now? Before Al ever hires anyone, he always talks to Green.'' Green, however, isn't likely to agree to any bargain-basement offer, which is Davis' standard approach to hiring a head coach. Anything less than four years or in the $2 million annual salary range won't cut it. Trouble is, if Davis has to pay off the final $4 million or so of Kiffin's contract, it's highly improbable that Oakland would be able to pay Green anything approaching what he would want to take the job. Thus, Davis appears to be trying to marginalize Kiffin to such a degree within Oakland's organization that resignation will look like an appealing option to the NFL's youngest head coach, who turns 33 in May. Ironically, Kiffin and his staff are representing the Raiders this week in Mobile, Ala., where they are coaching the North squad in the Under Armour Senior Bowl college all-star game. "In some cases, people in the building aren't even allowed to talk to Kiffin or Mark Jackson at this point,'' a league source said. "Davis is trying to make Kiffin's life miserable. It has to come to a head at some point.'' The trouble between Kiffin and Davis apparently intensified early this month after Kiffin wanted to fire defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, who was eager to leave and join the Jets in the same capacity. But Davis blocked Ryan's departure, exerting control that Kiffin believed he had over the makeup of his coaching staff. Ryan, incidentally, is seen as another potential candidate for the Raiders in the event that Kiffin departs. While unusual, Davis's treatment of Kiffin is not without precedent. Longtime Raiders personnel executive Michael Lombardi left the organization last May after a behind-the-scenes feud with former Oakland head coach Art Shell resulted in him being kept at an arm's length from most of the team's football operations in 2006 and early 2007. Before Kiffin was hired last January, the last three Raiders head coaches all had one- or two-year tenures: Bill Callahan (2002-03), Norv Turner (2004-05), and Shell (2006). If Kiffin is done after one season, Oakland would be in the market for its fifth head coach since Jon Gruden left the team for Tampa Bay following the 2001 season.
do we have any raider fan opinions? I actually thought Kiffen did a pretty good job. Their running game was pretty good, considering it was non existant last year. Sucks to be a raider fan while al davis is still alive.
I thought the word was that Davis didn't just ask Kiffin to resign, he drew up a letter of resignation himself and asked Kiffin to sign it.
What's the problem? More Denny Green press conferences is a good thing. Imagine the post-game entertainment with him coaching the Raiders!
According to this ESPN article, Davis actually sent the letter of resignation 2 weeks ago and Kiffin (rightfull) has thus far refused to sign it.
Why would he sign it? Resign and lose the remaining money on your contract or get fired and receive the rest? Tough choice.
Yeah, but Davis has a reputation for being cheap with coaches. I'm not surprised he's trying to save $4M by creating a hostile working environment in hopes that Kiffin will choose to resign. I'm sure Kiffin is willing to put up with it until Davis relents and fires him.
As long as they keep having a worse record than my Texans, I enjoy seeing this Wheel of Terror that is called the Oakland Raiders. Black is back. "We let EVERYONE off the hook!"
As a lifelong Raiders fan, I have been completely frustrated for the past 5 years with the continued existence of Al Davis. There needs to be some sort of coup to get his senile, power-hungry ass out of power. All Raider fans are sick of him trying to turn coaches into his puppets. I understand he used to be a great coach, and he's done a lot for the league in general, but Al's methods are outdated. His drafts have been terrible and filled with questionable picks for decades, without Jon Gruden and Rich Gannon, the Raiders wouldn't have had a winning season since the near-glory days of Art Shell. The Randy Moss thing was atrocious, the guy had a lot of football left in him, but Kerry Collins could barely stay upright in the pocket to get him the ball, and Art Shell's attempt at a comeback was the most laughable thing I've seen in a long time. Art Shell hired a guy to be his offensive coordinator whose previous job was being a figurehead mayor in a ski-resort town in Idaho. This team has talent, defensively they have the pieces. Offensively, they are starting to put it together. They have a decent ground game, and Russell has the biggest arm in the league. The Problem has been, and always will be Al Davis tripping over his own feet, he's trying to win the only way he knows how to, and he's failing miserably. Until the day he lets somebody else make personnel and draft decisions, the Raiders will struggle to get to .500. Lane Kiffin needs to stand his ground and not take any **** from Al. He was promised more control and I can tell you that it is the feeling of most Raider fans that we just want someone to stop putting up with his ****. Lane has some leverage right now, and I think he's doing the right thing by saying "back off, you gave me the reigns, now deal with it" Keep in mind this guy fired Mike Shanahan before the guy even finished his 1st season. He hasn't found a coach who could balance his bull**** while at the same time get the players behind him since Gruden, and despite the success, Al still couldn't deal with not getting the credit and he sold Gruden for a few million what turned out to be mostly ****ty draft picks. He hasn't found anyone nearly as good until Kiffin and now he wants to **** that up too. Just Die Baby.
The Raiders have a bunch of crazy gangsta fans. Why doesn't one of them "take one for the team" and off Al Davis. That is the only way things will turn around.
For someone as incompetent as Al Davis, he does sure have the greatest taste in tracksuits of any billionaire.
