NFL News: Oakland Raiders hush on coach hunt
The process to replace fired Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders has begun this Monday. The Raiders' administration held interviews to find a new head coach barely a week after it was decided that Tom Cable would not return in the 2011 season.
Last week, owner of the club Al Davis declined to pick up Cable’s $5 million worth two year contract option to keep him on the team as head coach. The decision came after the owner reviewed the 2010 season in which the Oakland Raiders finished 8-8. The last
time Raiders had a winning record in the regular season was in 2002 when the team won the AFC Championship.
While the team confirmed that they were in fact looking to fill the head coach position, no details about the hiring were disclosed to the press. “The interview process has begun,” senior executive John Herrera said. “No candidates will be named at this
point.”
It has been rumoured that offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is the most likely candidate for the job but Davis has been looking at options from outside the organization as well. An outside perspective and an insight into how other teams operate could prove
to be useful for the Raiders and with that in mind Davis has been interviewing different candidates.
Jackson’s offensive strategy was the reason the Raiders finished the season without a losing record for the first time in 7 years. Led by a revitalized quarterback in the form of Jason Campbell and due to a phenomenal season for running back Darren McFadden,
the Raiders scored 410 points in the regular season. That tally was the sixth highest in the league for the season and also the sixth highest in franchise history. Earlier, the Raiders were able to score only half as many points in the 2009 season.
Jackson has one year left on his contract with the Oakland Raiders. He was hired by the club in January last year as offensive coordinator. Jackson had appeared for an interview with the San Francisco 49ers for the head coach position but the 49ers settled
for Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh, brother of Baltimore Ravens' head coach John Harbaugh.
With Tom Cable and Hue Jackson, the Raiders improved significantly this season but were still unable to make the playoffs. Cable came to Oakland Raiders as the offensive line coach in 2007. He was made the interim coach in 2008 and then officially promoted
to head coach in February of 2009. He has a record of 17-27 with the Raiders.
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