Raiders Coaching Staff: Coordinator Search Begins, Ravens DC Fires Verbal Missles at Al Davis

By now everyone has heard that Al Davis has hired Hue Jackson as the new head coach. It’s the right move for the Al to hire Hue but you have to feel sorry for Hue as this could definitely be a career-derailer. Al may give Hue the title of head coach but he is no more than an interim head coach in Davis’ eyes.

Now that Hue Jackson is in the seat as head coach, he will now watch Al Davis pick his coordinators. That’s right, Hue doesn’t pick them.

One of the Raiders’ first choices for defensive coordinator was Baltimore Ravens’ secondary coach, Chuck Pagano, who was recently promoted to that same position after Greg Mattison left for Michigan. Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post wrote that according to Pagano, that was never an option.

“He will earn every cent that they pay him, and it won’t be much” Pagano said when congratulating Hue Jackson on the job.

Pagano was asked by a reporter if he would go back to Oakland as a coach, “Two years was plenty.”

Although Pagano is not interested in the job, another assistant on the Ravens staff is. Aaron Wilson is also reporting that Ravens’ offensive assistant, Al Saunders, is a favorite to land the job.

Saunders was once a head coach in San Diego and has worked in the NFL for the Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis Rams, and Washington Redskins. He has also coached collegiately at the University of Tennessee, Cal, Utah State, USC, and Missouri.

Raiders let go Tom Cable

While the San Francisco 49ers were hiring their new general manager and trying to chase down Jim Harbaugh the Oakland Raiders were doing their best to stay atop Bay Area news.  In what seemed to be directly tied to the 49ers request to interview Hue Jackson, Al Davis decided to not pick up Tom Cable’s contract option which subsequently left him without a job.

Most people thought the firing of Tom Cable meant that offensive coordinator Hue Jackson was going to be made the new head coach.  That move would have screwed the 49ers as they were likely looking to interview Hue Jackson to help meet their “Rooney rule” expectation.

The Raiders have countered the report that Hue Jackson will be promoted and have not made an announcement of who the new head coach will be. 

After finding out about Cable’s departure, pro-bowl punter Shane Lechler let it be known that he is not in favor of the move.

“I’m not so sure this isn’t a terrible decision,” Lechler said.

According to ProFootballTalk, Lechler has tried to call Al Davis and other Raiders executives but as is expected they are not taking his calls.

The Raiders will now start their coaching search which will likely include looking at Hue Jackson along with other top assistants in the league.  Jim Harbaugh is also a possibility as he has a good relationship with Al Davis but it is unlikely that he would be willing to pay the $7 million per year that will be necessary to get Harbaugh.

Coordinator's Corner: Oakland Raiders' OC Hue Jackson on the Quarterback Controversy

Fans were excited when the Oakland Raiders traded for Jason Campbell but that excitement quickly wore off. But after six quarters of football, that honeymoon was over. Tom Cable then turned to fan favorite Bruce Gradkowski to be the savior.

But after a few weeks and an injury that has kept him out for four weeks the question that is being asked is whether it should be Campbell or Gradkowski that keeps the starting job. Since his return to the starting job Campbell has gone 2-1 with four touchdowns and just two interceptions (both which were in the loss). Campbell has started to look like the quarterback that the Raiders and their fans thought that they were going to get.

Today in the media session, offensive coordinator Hue Jackson was asked about this potential quarterback controversy.

On why the Raiders would stick with Gradkowski after Jason Campbell has led the club to more than 1,000-yards of offense in the last two games with a qb rating over 120:
“Jason’s done well. Obviously, as Tom said, nothing’s been decided for this week. I live in the moment. My job is to make sure we’re ready to play this week, and until a decision is made on Friday, which it hasn’t been right night, I’ll worry about that when that time comes. I know Jason’s out here practicing. I know Bruce is out here practicing. The most important thing is that we put the guy that will give us the best chance to win.

I hear everything that’s been said, but my biggest thing is we’re going to go play, and somebody’s going to be under center come Sunday. And obviously Jason’s done a tremendous job. Bruce is working. I think he’d be the first to tell you – he’s working hard every day – he’s not exactly where he wants to be, but we’ve still got a few more days to see where we get to.”

I don't have the entire transcript but here is the rest of what Hue Jackson had to say about the quarterbacks.

Q: Is there any risk to making a quarterback change now?
Jackson: There’s risk in anything you do. Obviously, any time a guy has had success and all of a sudden someone comes in, there’s always that period of adjustment. We’ve had that. I’m not going to say it’s an adjustment that we can’t overcome if that’s the decision that’s made. But I also know that there is an adjustment period to anything you do in that situation. But if it is him and he goes and plays, he’ll play well. If it’s Jason, I expect him to play well.

Q: Can Bruce make all the throws he needs to make?
Jackson: I think he’s working toward that. I think he’ll tell you he’s not exactly there, but he’s throwing, and I think that’s the most important thing. The balls’ coming out of his hand, he’s hitting receivers, and I think he’s feeling much more comfortable than what he did a week ago.

Mike Singletary's Biggest Mistake: Not Hiring Raiders' OC, Hue Jackson

Raiders offensive coordinator, Hue Jackson, met with the local media today.  After watching the video on the Oakland Raiders site, I started thinking about Mike Singletary's biggest mistake in not hiring Hue Jackson as his offensive coordinator. 

Not to say that Jackson is better the Scott Linehan or the other guys that walked away from the 49ers but he is defintely a better coordinator than Jimmy Raye and that is likely why Singletary was not interested.

When Jackson was asked if he chose not to accept the 49ers job, his answer was:

“No, no. That was their call at the time. And that’s OK. I feel I’m where I’m supposed to be now, here with the Raiders getting this organization where it needs to be.’’

After watching the Raider games this season and seeing Jackson's press conference today I could why see why Singletary didn't hire Hue Jackson.  Jackson is a guy who has been around the league and wasn't going to follow Singletary's offensive vision to run all the time.  He has his own vision of how to be successful on offense and that wasn't inline with Singletary's and as we all know, Jackson's vision is right.  Jackson likes to score and push the ball up the field.  He doesn't necessarily agree with the run the ball straight up the middle all the time.

In fact, even with the firing of Jimmy Raye, things don't seem to be changing.  I plan to write another post with more in-depth analysis but let me leave you with this:

According to the Football Outsiders, the San Francisco 49ers run up the middle on 66% of all their runs. 

49ers football.....TORTURE!!!!