The Kids Don't Stand A Chance

Well put...very insightful...now we know why Michael often refers to Jon Gruden as "Love you Bro"...its truly a shame that this once proud franchise has become what it has become...its bad for the league when team's like the Raiders are playing poorly...

BUT perhaps the owner makes it such a difficult situation for him to teach his way of doing things that Kiffin feels the need to separate himself and say, "This is not who I am." For fear of never coaching again.

It would be nice to teach the players the finer parts of the game, but to think the coach should sacrifice his principles because it is the best for the team (a team owned by a guy who doesn't want him there) is kind of a hard stretch. The owner creates the situation and has created this pit-stop for coaches.

The Owner needs to step up and fire Kiffin or let him run it his way.

by the way, really well written piece. It has voice and sounds authentic, and it is a new insight on the coach/player dynamic. thanks.

John "Love you Golden Dome" Gruden?

Did you guys ever call him Chucky?


He's a good coach. That said, for all the love he develops from players, he has a very short patience threshold and a huge doghouse.


He brings a lot of vets in, then just as quickly forces their departures, or worse(forcing a Plummer retirement, now perhaps the same for Garcia, bringing Tim Brown in and then shelving him).

Jerry Porter is probably his biggest fan from his Raiders days(heh).

That said, he still helped Gannon turn the franchise around for a brief time. Al Davis was laughed at for giving the young guy a chance, nobody else said he was HC material.

The issue at this time is, how close is this team to being good? When did the team decide upon settling for good enough? When will the team be great again?

The tuck game has got to be among the biggest miscarriages of justice in the history of the NFL.

A great perspective, Adam. Its easy to sympathize with the Raiders players because they really are caught in the middle between a senile owner and a coaching staff constantly in turmoil.

While I'm not a fan of Gruden, I find it hard to lay blame on him or Kiffin for their issues with Oakland. I think anyone who has had a horrible boss can relate to these guys: A boss who meddles, constantly looks over your shoulder, makes poor decisions and lays the blame on underlings, pits employees against one another, and/or threatens you (but fails to follow through) with termination because of things not entirely under your control.

Say what you want about Lane's job performance but the guy is in an impossible situation with an owner who has been playing mind games since the end of last season. He probably can't defend himself within the organization so he is using the only avenue available to him and, in my humble opinion, you have to give him credit for keeping his cool and not directly calling out Al Davis. I also find it easy to sympathize with Lane Kiffin (and Rob Ryan who should run as soon as his contract is up). The only one who I have a hard time relating to is the guy creating this mess: Al Davis...

I was a fan of the Raiders growing up. I loved players like Otis Sistrunk and Ted Hendricks, but the way that Davis treated the city of Oakland and the fans of the team in the 80's was the beginning of the end for this team.

Yes, they found success at times, but Davis has become an albatross around this team's neck. They are stuck with wannabes, neverweres, and neverwillbes as a head coach until Davis cedes control of the team.

The players, assistant coaches, staff, and fans all deserve better than they are getting from this organization. Kiffin will go elsewhere and we'll discover what kind of coach he is, but we are getting a sense of what kind of person he is, and that isn't pretty.

As always, this is a great article with tremendous insight. I appreciate the work, thanks.

Adam, you hit the nail on the head with this one! I feel that regardless of the man that Kiffin works for, he is still collecting a paycheck and has a responsibility to not only the players, but to the other coaches, and the entire organization. An NFL head coach is the face of the franchise and when he accepts the job he needs to realize that. Everyone in that building is looking to him to lead them. Maybe it is time that Mr. Davis hires his 8th head coach in 14 seasons.
As for the Raiders being 20-62 since 2003, there has been one constant decision maker at 1220 Harbor Bay Pkwy, Al Davis.
Don't worry Lane, you will wake up soon!

It's hard to blame Al Davis for Gruden. Gruden made it loud and clear he was not going to re-sign as Raiders Head Coach; so Al did what Gruden was doing, looking out for himself. He traded Gruden to Tampa, not a bad move if you think about it. Tampa could have got him for nothing at the end of the season.
So if you were an owner of an NFL team, hired a coach with no significant NFL Coaching experience; would you give him complete personnel control? I don't think any owner would. This leads to the current situation in Oakland. Kiffin is asking for complete control that Gruden had. The Kiffin situation is different in that he has never held a significant coaching job in the NFL the way Gruden did.
Kiffin is not an NFL Head Coach. He will make a fine college coach someday, but he doesn't belong in the NFL, and he knows it. That is what is making his tenure in Oakland difficult. His pride is hurt because he feels he let the organization down (look at his comments recently). But he doesn't want to take all the blame, so he throws the owner, DC, and players under the bus for game planning, performance, roster, etc. It's like Adam said, he's looking out for himself (and has since he's been here).
I don't necessarily agree with everything Al Davis does, but that is what makes him Al Davis. I'm sure Adam would agree, that even though he has his own style, he is probably one of the best owners to work for (when he's there). I think the only thing getting away from Al is his age and health. That is the reason he isn't around much during the season, but it is also the reason why this organization is in disarray. His lack of absence has been felt since (essentially) the 2nd year of Norv to current day.
He'd be better off letting Kiffin go, and replacing him with Rob Ryan, and finding a solid GM.

Thanks for the comments. There are some really valid points in them. If you're a player, Mr. Davis is the best owner to play for. He was nothing short of stellar to me in my ten years there. But I know that does not always extend beyond the players. My frustration stems from newly hired coaches professing an "understanding" of how unusually run this organization is, only to get miffed they don't have full autonomy. It's no secret Mr. Davis is a hands-on owner. So what you're left with is a new head coach every couple of years, who only used the Raiders to get a foot in the door, and and organization that has no continuity. But the ones really losing out here are the young players.

Adam must have been one of the Bay Area freaks to even mention Jim Rose. It's true that Al's persona remains an Enigma(tm).

The team is all over the place with some great young potential and a mesh of veterans at different career stages. It does have the look of a freak troubadour exhibitionist crew ready for the next biker rally or goth festival, scary.

That isn't to say the owner will lift heavy objects with body piercings for the halftime show. One sees Al is losing his edge. No longer sacrificing the conquered at his alter as he chants Sun Tzu from memory, instead having the evile alter ego become parodied by Raider haters.

Take what works best from your draft history of recent(seems to be the 4th and 5th rounds, some top tier first rounders) and apply the model across the span of your selection process.

Tyvon is proof you have not lost your touch. Bush slipped through due to injury and is a force in the making. McFadden was a can't miss item in his own right. Scary good items there.

Adam, I'm a 30 plus year Raider fan and am really enjoying these blogs. "Do anything to help the team win" guys like yourself have a great perspective on this situation, and it's refreshing to read an account of the Kiffin-Davis feud that doesn't lay 100% of the blame at Davis's feet. While I'd love to see a long term coach in Oakland, and I hate to think of Russell having to learn a new playbook every year or two, I can't for the life of me understand Kiffin's behavior. I'm supposed to believe that the son of Monte Kiffin and friend of Jon Gruden expected to come to Oakland and be given authority and power that even Gruden never had? I don't think he's naive so he must be pretty arrogant. Makes it appear that he thought he could leverage the owner because he's old, sick, and hasn't won in a few years. Admirable. I guess he started pining for Arkansas when he realized his miscalculation.

If I may correct Raider Nate 75, Gruden never had "complete control", and I'm sure Adam would vouch for that. The media liked to think he had total control because that was easier than giving credit to the reviled Davis. So we were supposed to believe that Gruden "conned" Davis into signing Gannon, etc. Bullfeathers.

I think Adam's main point is that the players are the real losers here. the majority of them are working the Butts off year round. However, the distractions from the top trickles down all the way to Sundays. Its the head coaches job to be bigger than any of the static (even if it comes from the very top) and give the players every resource to win, including themself.