January 23, 2007
American Football Spectacular: And A Child Shall Lead Them
When Editor Jon sent a message with the scoop that the Raiders had picked up Kiffin to be the new Head Coach for the Silver And Black, we were excited.
Kiffin has shown himself to be one of the most skillful tacticians in the National Football League in his 11 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, helping birth the successful “Tampa 2” zone scheme, and leading his unit to the #1 statistical defensive rank in 2002 and 2005.
He is well respected as a wily innovator and a great defensive mind, so the Raiders… wait, what?!
His son? He’s 31?!
Forget it. Just f---in’ forget it.
You kiddin’ me? This is ridiculous.
The man that Oakland (Al) hired, Lane Kiffin, is Monte Kiffin’s son. Lane was the offensive coordinator at USC. He has never been a Head Coach. He only spent one season in the NFL as a “quality control” coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He’s 31 years young.
This is so stupid. Couldn’t Al at least have tried to get someone more experienced? Why would the NFL’s most notoriously fractious team unite under a young, inexperienced college coach?
Oakland couldn't get USC's Steve Sarkasian to the signing stage after multiple interviews for the job. And the James Lofton interview feels like a mere token move now. But this?
You will not see a more obvious hiring of a pawn whom the management (Al) thinks that they will be able to control. It’s amazing. Other obvious figureheads with no actual power include Early Cuyler for Dan Halen Sheet Rock International, or George W. Bush for the Karl Rove-run White House.
A diplomatic John Madden -- a young coach himself when Al hired him -- summed up the Lane hiring this morning on his podcast as such: “Well, if you’ve got a guy you know can't do it, you're better off going with someone you don't know can't do it.”
That’s what the Raider Nation got. A guy that they don’t know can’t get the job done.
Recently, when things can’t get any worse, the Raiders (Al) have consistently found new ways to make the situation worse.
Lane, we at American Football Spectacular wish you the best of luck in your impossible situation.
Good luck, son.
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It's true, I applied for the coaching job with the Raiders too. While the Human Resources rep was very confused that I wasn't interested in the cheerleading job or the group sales marketing job openings. I now know I was too old for the job. Mid-Thirties suck, I am too old to coach a football team.
Are there any old CIA agents from back in the Bay of Pigs days that we could hire to sneak Al Davis an exploding cigar?
Seriously - the guy is just positively off his meds and ruining that franchise. Its even more annoying now that the Raiders have a golden opportunity what with the SF 49'ers now the Santa Clara Suburbaniters.
Um...look around the league next time you get a chance. Young coaches are actually acquitting themselves quite well. Give the guy a chance to do well at least.
Why does Al Davis look like a turkey in the picture you posted.... Mr. Rogers, lets be honest though could the raiders do any worse. Who the he## would want the job with all the personal problems and the inability to get a highly talented team to gel since my favorite AARP spokesman Rich Gannon was running the plays. At least this guy is 31 and will be as old as most of the players on the defensive line. So at least he will be able to party with Warren Sapp. I wouldn’t mind some expose like the Vikings had except this time we would up them with a picture of our coach putting a dollar bill in the strippers thong with his teeth.