Is This Oakland Raider Coach Tom Cable's Bye-Bye Week?

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Going into their bye during week five of last season, the Oakland Raiders were in a familiar position. Sitting with a 1-3 record, a lack of passion, and an uphill climb to improve the squad, the team finally pulled the trigger on the firing of "Lance" Kiffin, much to the delight of owner Al Davis.

Davis put on a show rarely seen in sport as he called a press-conference and actually used an old-school overhead projector (I'm guessing Al isn't so well versed in Powerpoint) to outline and detail his reasons not only for firing Kiffin, but why he shouldn't have to pay him the rest of his contract.

The overhead display of a letter he had wrote to Kiffin admonishing him for his public statements was awesome theatre, and Al Davis at his best. It was as surreal as it was entertaining, and showed that despite some questionable football moves recently, ol' Al is still alive and kicking.

Al stated that Kiffin lied repeatedly, tried to undermine his authority, made negative statements about the organization, and coached in a way detrimental to the team. Therefore, not only was he fired, but fired for "cause", legal terminology that essentially meant Al was not obligated to pay Kiffin the remainder of his salary.

That case is still ongoing, and there has been no verdict rendered as yet. Kiffin has recently come out with public support for Cable, but with his actions in Oakland last season and his mouthpiece nature in the SEC, it is being taken with a gigantic bag of salt.

So now the Raiders were a literal rudderless ship, as opposed to the symbolic rudderless ship they represented under Kiffin. Leadership under Kiffin was there in body, but certainly not in mind or spirit.

Enter Tom Cable, a Raider fan since childhood and the offensive line coach who was widely responsible for a resurgence in the Raiders' running attack. In his dream job, the interim Coach Cable brought the enthusiasm and want-to-be-great attitude that was sorely missing under Kiffin.

Cable brought fire, passion, and heart to a Raider team that still finished with a terrible 5-11 record (going 4-8 under Cable), but showed more potential and less apathy than they had in a long time.

Cable began playing young players that were derided by Kiffin, like Mario Henderson. Henderson has since become the starting left tackle and played very, very well at that position.

Cable gave opportunity to young receivers like Jonnie Lee Higgins and Chaz Schilens, and the result was an improved passing attack that looked like it could actually be something in the making for the future.

Cable gave opportunity and patience to JaMarcus Russell, who responded by playing very solid, if unspectacular, in his final six games.

The team was heading in the right direction under Cable, and Raider Nation was excited. We were divided into those who wanted Cable to become the full-time, official head coach, and those who wanted someone else with more experience and a better pedigree. Cable got his personal wish and had the interim tag removed shortly after the season.

I admit now I was wrong in falling into the former category.

Heading into the 2009 season, this team would finally have a healthy Darren McFadden, a more experienced and improved JaMarcus Russell, a full offseason with the new coaching staff (including new defensive coordinator John Marshall and D-line coach Dwayne Board), and a division that appeared to have only one real threat, San Diego, in it's midst.

Everything seemed to be lining up for the Raiders to get of the schnide and improve upon six consecutive seasons of 10+ losses (a dubious NFL record, by the way.)

There was the usual concern regarding Russell's offseason work habits and conditioning, but everything with the team seemed to be going well. The players were saying all the right things, and Cable himself was excited for the season to begin.

Then, August 4th, 2009 happened.

I'm not going to go into details, but assistant coach Randy Hanson (or slimy weasel as he's unaffectionately known to Raider fans) had his face broken. Originally, Hanson stated it just happened and didn't press any charges or make any direct accusations toward Cable.

Hanson then tried to extort money and position from the Raiders, which didn't work. We all know how well Al Davis responds to shakedowns. He's old school, and if this were still the 60's, I think ol' Al would've broken Hanson's jaw himself.

So Hanson then showed up at the Napa Valley (Ca.) DA's office and stated "the Raiders didn't give me what I want, so I'm ready to cooperate fully."

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