Where Do Oakland Raiders Go From Here?

Oakland Raider head coach Tom Cable is obviously not the answer. His inability to achieve consistent excellence from any portion of his team is proof enough of that. And, with coaches like Mike Smith and Mike Jets 6 Sanchez Jersey
Tomlin coming into franchises as first year head coaches and having success recently, there;s proof that it can be done. Just maybe not in Oakland;So, what;s the answer, assuming Al Davis won;t sell to John Madden, Jon Bon Jovi, Steve Young or any of the other suitors for Raider ownership? This year has an unprecedented crop of outstanding head coaching candidates on the market. Men with the type of jewelry Davis lusts for litter the coaching landscape right now. Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden, Mike Shanahan, Tony Dungy, Dan Reeves and many more are out there right now. The trouble is, none of them seem interested in becoming Davis; puppet, shackled with a staff Davis will undoubtedly select before hiring the head man, saddled with a roster they have no control over, and forced to extend the infamous ;Raider Scholarship; to players who prove time and again they can;t play NFL caliber ball. Looking at the list, Mike Shanahan can be removed immediately. His hatred for Al Davis is widely publicized, in fact, there;s a chance Shanahan might turn down more lucrative offers to land a spot elsewhere in the AFC West just to take two more shots at the Raiders each and every year. Next up in the ;fat chance; category is possibly the highest ranked on the list, former Steeler head man, Bill Cowher. Davis loves Cowher;s systems, trying more than once to hire away Steeler coordinators or other assistant coaches, and failing. You can bet Cowher himself had a hand in some, if not all, of those failures, steering those in his coaching tree away from untenable situations, such as that which Oakland offers potential candidates. After that, we have Jon Gruden, a current Raider Nation ;fan favorite; for once again manning the USS Raider. However, Gruden had to navigate through a minefield amidst the perfect storm to achieve what success he had with the team. Gruden;s journey was aided by former Raider GM Bruce Allen, a man considered by many to be pivotal in the relationship between Gruden and Davis. Without Allen, this ship won;t sail. And, since Gruden just recently signed a multi-year, highly lucrative contract for Monday Night Football, any hopes that he would return to the Silver and Black are merely pipe Dallas Cowboys jersey
dreams with as much clout as those that Madden himself would return. Beyond Gruden, Shanahan and Cowher sits Tony Dungy, a man who has more than once been quoted in guiding players away from Davis; Raiders. He quickly falls into the Cowher category, a discerning, highly intelligent man who knows a bad scene when he sees it and isn;t afraid to call it what it is.So, that weeds out the highest profile candidates and leaves the second and third tier head men, and those who will be out of work come the off season in 2010. Dan Reeves, one of the best coaches in NFL history has said on NFL Radio that he would be more than happy to return to coaching if the opportunity presented itself. However, Reeves coached the Broncos prior to Shanahan and chances are, has no love for Oakland. Beyond that, you have the Jim Fassels, Herm Edwards, Romeo Crennels, Eric Manginis, Dick Jaurons and Jim Hasletts of the world. None of which are attractive options. Mike Martz would seem to be the best option of this bunch, and was courted by Davis in recent years, but nothing came of it, presumably because Martz refuses to be saddled with a demanding owner who shouldn;t wear a coach hat. So, once again, the Raiders are preparing to head into an uncertain off Jets 6 Sanchez AFL50th jersey
season, after completing the final meaningless part of the season, with more questions than answers and very little hope to offer fans or sell tickets. All this could be prevented by Davis selling the team, but rumors are currently circulating his son, Mark Davis will take over in the not so distant future. While this might create a needed spark, ala Arizona;s Michael Bidwell, it;s certainly not the attractive option most fans would hope for in these bleakest of Raider days.