Tom Cable: Reciting The Words Of The Oakland Raiders Head Coach

Prior to one of the biggest games for Oakland this season, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look back at the man who is representing us on the sidelines. A good coach with an upside similar to the players on the roster.

Tom Cable- 02-03-09

“I’m honored to have the privilege and the responsibility to be the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. I look forward to getting to work and working hard to bring a championship to Oakland. To the fans at Raider Nation…Listen to me, it’s time we came back to you with a team you can be proud of every Sunday. So everyone in that stadium has an energy level and excitement like no other. You’ve been great fans in the past, and it’s time for us to give you something back, and that is a great football team.”

Cable’s Interview April 2009

“You know when I was a college coach, and that was over, I wrote myself a letter to know what I would do next time, and the number one thing was ‘be yourself.’ You learn a lot from a lot of people, I admire guys like Bill Parcells, guys like Vince Lombardi, I’ve studied a lot about him. Bill Bellicheck, Mike Shanahan, those are all great, great coaches. So, you study them, you watch them and all that, but at the end of the day, you just got to be you.”

Who is Tom Cable?

“Someone who loves the game, loves what it’s about, and likes to have fun. I like to work hard; I think everything good comes from hard work. Just enjoy today, that’s the most important thing.”

What is it like working for Al Davis?

“Working for him for a year and four games, I really did understand that whole passion about ‘just win,’ what that means, and for me it was an easy transition in terms of that. It hasn’t been that craziness or whatever it is that people think, it’s been more: this is my issue, how can I help him or how can he help me. I’m not afraid to pick up the phone and call him and ask him, and he’s been great.”

How do you get this team back to what it was?

“I think you ground it, you get it back to the fundamental stage of what it is to succeed, what does it take? The last six weeks (of 2008) we really reached some of those things like playing for each other, caring about each other. The selfishness kind of dissipated, we became about winning the day, that 1-0 thing I believe in and playing for each other, doing it with honor.”

What is the 1-0 philosophy?

“Win today, whatever it is today, do your best today, whatever’s happened in the past, or what is out there in the future does not matter. If you win today, you’ve done enough.”

“I think for us to challenge for the division, I think that’s reasonable, our goals aren’t any different than anybody else’s, to win a Super Bowl, which means you get into the playoffs, which means you won your division, or close to it. I think the thing that is most important to me is becoming a factor in the AFC West; a real factor.”

“I think the people of Oakland are as hungry as we are as a coaching staff and as a team to have success. I think that’s the biggest thing is that; this is a great game no matter where you’re at, but it’s a lot of fun when you’re winning and I think that’s the thing that excites me the most is that we can do that now, and I look forward to it.”

“We all got good players, they all get paid lots of money, they all have good coaches, so it’s a matter of getting past the B.S. and putting that aside, and keeping it real, and what’s real is trying to get a championship.”

10-12-2009

“Based on how we’ve played, fans have a right to have their judgments; they’re the ones who are buying tickets, spending their hard earned money. At the same time, this has always been a very loyal group. All they want is a team to go out there and put in the kind of effort they can be proud of as a fan, so we owe that to them.”

10-19-2009

“It was a tremendous team effort in all three phases. The most important thing for us to do now is realize that we still have to get better. My hope is that we’ll take from it the how to; in terms of fighting for each other, playing for each other. The best example is the Zach Miller touchdown and the effort by, obviously, Louis Murphy. It really shows what we’re trying to be as a football team.”

“We’ll just continue to harp on those things, and just continue to build it with what we think is the right way. The most important thing is for us to realize that we many areas to get better as a football player and as a football team. I told them…I am going to assume now that you will bring the fight now every Sunday. I feel good about saying that, and that’s what I want us to take from that football game.”

“That’s what it is today, just you know, we feel good about yesterday. You have to put them together, you have to have consistency. I know we have good players, whether y’all agree with me or not, it doesn’t matter, that’s what I believe and that’s how it is. In order to prove it you have to go out and take a win, you have to go get it, you have to get it, reach for it with both hands and grab it! That’s what we did, we fought for ourselves.”

“The teams that will go out every Sunday and fight their rear ends off for each other; those are the best teams in this league. When that happens enough, you gain confidence, and that is what we need to do right now is gain confidence to be the kind of team we think we can be.”

I still believe in Tom Cable. Unlike Randy Hanson, Tom Cable is a very real guy. He has never lied to us, or tried to put up a front. It is always good to have a guy who doesn’t beat around the bush, gets straight and simple to the point, and has a calm, cool , collected demeanor.

Tom Cable should be Oakland’s head coach, he is a great coach, and he has one of those Raider faces.