"In this business, at times there are tough decisions that have to be made for the good of the football team," Head Coach Art Shell was quoted in the Merc, "... Tom has been diligent in his effort to get our offense going in the right direction. In no way should the lack of a more successful offense be placed totally at his feet."

OK, that’s nice of you to say, Art.

But here's the problem: indeed, Walsh was merely symptomatic of the issue with the offense. Like Art, Walsh was but a foot soldier. The course of the current Raider regime looks to remain unchanged. It’s like firing of former Secretary Of Defense Donald Rumsfeld – an executor of policy has been removed, but the "decider" of the failed policy still remains in power.

Ayup. Remember the pattern of what happened with (former Cal Head Coach) Mike White, the evil Mike Shanahan, and Chucky Gruden? All of them were fired, tossed, or otherwise abrogated by The Al.

The whole point of the Art Shell coaching regime is that no reasonable candidate wanted the Raiders' coaching gig in the 2005-2006 offseason since Al absolutely requires certain things: utter loyalty, a vertical offense, an attacking defense, and the blood of the living.