Kiffin Out In Oakland

[h2k4]

 

The inevitable became reality Tuesday when Lane Kiffin was fired by Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis without pay via the telephone, according to team sources.

Tom Cable, the team's offensive line coach, was emerging as the leading candidate to replace Kiffin, a source said. Cable was among three coaches interviewed by Davis on Monday night; the others were offensive coordinator Greg Knapp and special consultant Paul Hackett.

Davis is expected to have a press conference later Tuesday to explain his decision to dismiss Kiffin.

Unlike the St. Louis Rams, who fired coach Scott Linehan on Monday, the news was not delivered by Davis in a face-to-face meeting. Kiffin was notified by a team executive Tuesday morning that Davis would call him at 9:15 a.m. PT to relieve the coach of his duties. The call came shortly after that time.

Linehan also was allowed to speak briefly with his players on Monday. Kiffin will not be afforded the same opportunity, a source said.

The news did not blindside Kiffin, who was informed by a team executive that he would be fired after the Raiders 24-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills in week three. Even though Davis didn't act a week ago, as Kiffin was told, many team insiders expected the Oakland owner to fire the coach during this bye week.

The Raiders are 1-3, having blown leads in the fourth quarter to the Bills and the San Diego Chargers. During Kiffin's 20-game tenure, in which the team was 5-15, the Raiders took leads into the fourth quarter of 11 games.


Davis hired Kiffin, who was USC's offensive coordinator at the time, as the NFL's youngest coach at 31 years old in February 2007. Even though many observers questioned the hiring, Kiffin ultimately gained respect around the league for fielding a significantly more competitive team than the Raiders had displayed before he was hired.

Despite being competitive in the majority of games, Kiffin and Davis had a falling out on several fronts, starting when Davis believed Kiffin expressed private interest in the head coaching position at the University of Arkansas during the 2007 season.

However, it was well-documented that their relationship disintegrated when Kiffin attempted to fire defensive coordinator Rob Ryan after the 2007 season. A source said Kiffin suggested to Davis that the owner had reneged on an agreement that the coach would have control over his own staff. Shortly thereafter, Davis sent a letter of resignation for Kiffin to sign, sources said. Kiffin declined.

Kiffin also opposed some of Davis' big free-agent signings such as wide receiver Javon Walker and, to a lesser degree, cornerback DeAngelo Hall, sources said. Kiffin also expressed public frustration that the team was not more aggressive in claiming other team's released players via the waiver process to strengthen the bottom of the roster.

However, a Raiders source said that Davis privately sent a letter to Kiffin after the season's opening-game loss to the Broncos, attempting to "document" that the coach approved of the offseason acquisitions. A source close to Kiffin described that claim as "fiction."




Chris Mortensen is senior NFL analyst for ESPN.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3617977

[R-Tistic]

Seriously....is Al trying to break, re-break, and create an eternal record for the most head coaches within a span of years?

[Don Jacob]

the oakland raiders=quagmire for any coach.

Al davis needs to die.

[M Dogg™]

I thought Kiffin did a great job for what was given. His a young coach, who was coaching a young team and they were competitive in most games, and Russell finally put out a great day passing, and only has one pick this year. With McFadden rushing, Russell passing, and the blocking scheme he put in that greatly improved what was a horrible O-line, Kiffin was turning around a horrible team. If Denver hires him as an assistant, I'll be highly disappointed. Al Davis, I love you, but you need to step down.

[h2k4]

I can't wait for the day when I read on the ESPN ticker that Al Davis is gone from the Raiders.  It's long overdue for him to let the young guys make the decisions because it's clear that he can't make the right ones.

[.:DaYg0sTyLz:.]

good move Al.....Superbowl here we come...

[h2k4]

After listening to Al Davis' conference, I can now agree with others saying that the Raiders are the biggest joke in the league.  And that's coming from a Raider fan.  No reason to air out the organizations business like that.  Absolutely pathetic.

[OG Hack Wilson]

over the phone


stay classy

[Lunatic]

lol

[OG Hack Wilson]

they dont have the balls to fire him in person

AND they wont pay him

[OchoCinco]

 ....................................................

[.:DaYg0sTyLz:.]

Kiffins response. I could see this being a Mike Shanahan kind of mistake. I think Kiffin could be a great coach. Unfortunately, Al will never want to deal with someone who stands up to him. As long as he runs the organization that way, we'll have these problems.


http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3618948&categoryId=2378529

[OG Hack Wilson]

i think he's heading to Syracuse

[h2k4]

Kiffins response. I could see this being a Mike Shanahan kind of mistake. I think Kiffin could be a great coach. Unfortunately, Al will never want to deal with someone who stands up to him. As long as he runs the organization that way, we'll have these problems.


http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3618948&categoryId=2378529

I agree.  Sounds like Kiffin took the high road in his response.  There was a few contradictions in Al's conference.  I felt embarrased as a Raider fan watching that conference.

[MontrealCity's Most]

man i used to be such a fan of this team, now its juts sad