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Sources: Raiders finally fire Kiffin, consider promoting assistants
By Chris Mortensen
ESPN.com
Updated: September 30, 2008, 12:56 PM ET
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 today 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. PST 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 off-season acquisitions. A source close to Kiffin described that claim as "fiction."
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And anybody who works for him is nuts. You know you are going to get fired and he will try to renege on paying the remainder of the contract.......
Hope the upfront money is worth it because you always know how this movie is going to end.......
The raider situation reminds me of the Bruins except that Jacobs is not as flamboyant. Neither organization will win as long as their owners continue to run things, and unfortunately they will both pass on before that happens.
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Hey, Bill you're wasting Brady's prime years......oh wait.... To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
How unprofessional and gutless. He informs Kiffin over the phone and tells him he's not going to get paid the balance of his contract. Good luck fighting that in court Al.
why would someone go into the season with a coach they are willing to fire 4 weeks in. This goes for the Rams too if it was that bad than maybe you shuld have done more in the offseason.
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"We go down to New Orleans, and ain't anybody give us a chance? Nobody! And what did we say to them?"
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.
Does he also think he is above the law?
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i think kiffin would have made at the very least an average NFL coach...
actually, personally i think he would have been a pretty damn good coach, top 10 in the league...
but he went to oakland, and the rest is history...
(if BB were to hire him, for any reason, i sure wouldnt be disapointed)
kiffin will be a good coach in this league or in college. he wasn't bad with the raiders. he was doing a pretty good job with an extremely young team. someone needs to fire al davis.
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"What's my favorite ring? The next one.....thats my favorite ring, the next one" -Tom Brady
R.I.P. MARQUISE HILL(1982-2007)
Bill Belichick: "Marquise will be remembered as a thoughtful and caring young man who established himself as one of the year-round daily fixtures of our team."
For reals this time, Kiffin fired
why would someone go into the season with a coach they are willing to fire 4 weeks in. This goes for the Rams too if it was that bad than maybe you shuld have done more in the offseason.
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