The bell tolls for thee, Lane Kiffin.
Barring a completely unexpected and ultimate thrashing of the Chiefs in KC this Sunday, the death knell on Lane Kiffin's time in Oakland grows louder, week by week, until the bye. By all accounts, Kiffin seems not only to be expecting it, but looking forward to it.
But firing Lane Kiffin and making NO other changes would mean nothing to the Raiders' franchise. The team's organizational and coaching structure are dysfunctionally divided, making team unity and accountability impossible. Replacing Kiffin without making wholesale changes at the top will be, unfortunately, like putting lipstick on a pig, no offense to Sarah "V-Pilf" Palin.
Kiffin is clearly responsible for the offense. As head coach, he is also responsible for the team as a whole. But with Rob Ryan and Al Davis directing the defense, the division in the team's structure undermines Kiffin's authority and effectiveness. And what of accountability?
For the last 17 games, the Raiders' offense has outplayed the Raiders defense. And yet Rob Ryan is still there, Al's puppet and fattest cheerleader of an under-performing squad. Fire Kiffin if you must, but just try to justify keeping Ryan to the team, or to me, without laughing out loud.
And what of the plan for the team after Kiffin is gone? For all the money spent, the Raiders have added more young talent on offense than defense, young talent they MUST develop.
The one positive to come out of Monday's game against Denver is that JaMarcus Russell looked pretty good, and for that, Kiffin and QB coach John DeFillipo deserve credit. Russell has been Kiffin's project from Day One (at least since Russell finally signed), and Russell appears to be developing.
I don't see firing Kiffin as a positive for continuing to develop the Raiders' franchise QB.
So go ahead, fire Kiffin. I get it, it's the humane thing to do. Lofton may be a reasonable interim solution. But don't stop there.
Fire Ryan. Let him take Martindale, Millard, and every other remora attached to his great girth with him, to the Jets or any other franchise foolish enough to open their front door. Trim the Fat.
And hire a GM, a real one. Don't make Kiffin the scapegoat, he's done as much as can be expected, given the situation he's in. Move forward, as much as the team deserves a unified coaching staff and front office, Raiders fans deserve it more.
I have all the respect in the world for Al Davis and all he has accomplished. He has earned the right to run the Raiders as he sees fit, even as he is doing now, running them right into the ground.
10 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
J.C. Ayvazi 10 months ago
Nice take Greg. Agree with a lot of what you have here.
But if they are not going to make the organziation changes, the Raiders might as well keep Kiffin all season. If you break your leg, it doesn't do much good to put it in a cast before you set the fracture.
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Greg Peterson 10 months ago
Thanks JC. You're right, the thing that should happen is the Raiders fix management (Al Davis passes the reins) before turning over the coaching staff.
But at the same time, if the Raiders continue to play embarrassingly and Kiffin continues to distance himself from the D through the media I don't see how he lasts past the bye. He's still the head coach and has to at least pay lip service to keeping the team together.
At this point the best I'm hoping for out of this season is Jamarcus Russell to continue to improve without taking an Andrew Walters beating. If the league and the players can work out a rookie salary structure maybe another high draft pick won't hurt us so bad.
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Jeff Little 10 months ago
Nice Take, Greg. I agree with a lot of it. The organizational changes need to take place and should've taken place a long time ago. I don't feel that firing Kiffin is the right decision but that is a possibility. The offense has outperformed the defense. A better way to go would be to develop their young players, draft a lot better, hire GM and hire a brand new scouting staff.
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Greg Peterson 10 months ago
Thanks for the comment Jeff. The fans are on the same page, no change matters without the big one at the top.
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Quincho ibarra 10 months ago
First of all! AL !! LET KIFFIN DO HIS JOB!!!! LET HIM RUN THE TEAM!! second of all, spend the money on the players that deserve it! how are you gonna sign deangelo hall to a stunning contract, when you havent even signed arguably the best corner back in the league in Asomugha, and to your line backers, thomas howard and kirk morrison. instead on spending it on mediocre d-lineman, tommy kelly. spending a monstrous amount of money on mediocre receiver, javon walker. Jamarcus looked really good, most of his passes were right on target, he looked calm in the pocket when given just a little bit of time. The run game looked good, but the O line and Dline looked aweful. If we cant get any penetration on the quarterback with our defensive line alone, then we need to blitz more often. Jay cutler had all day to pass the ball last week. COME ON GUYS!! 5 LOSING SEASONS IS ENOUGH FOR THE RAIDER NATION. ITS NOT ONE OF THE STATISTICS WE NEED!!
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ken rog 10 months ago
how the heeeellllllllll do you say kiffin is responsible for the team?????????? are you smoking crack?????? its not even a team he put together! Im a raider fan and embarrassed by the following this team has. Shit, Keep kiffin, fire ryan, lofton, and everyone else on that D side, and throw in Hall in the mix. Duck tape al fart face davis to his stupid chair in that box of his with a gag in his mouth for the rest of his life. Kiffin is not responsible for this f'ing team you retard ! Al fart face davis is u retard !!!!!!!!!!!!! Get it right !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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ken rog 10 months ago
stupid.
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Greg Peterson 10 months ago
U got shit for brains, player.
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E Francis 10 months ago
I just need some piece of mind fellow raider fans. I've been living in New Jersey since birth(29 Years) been a fan of the raiders since I was 5 years old. They are rarely televised here on the east coast, but last Monday night they were. At halftime I was pacing up and down my driveway in anger with too much beer and too many cigarettes. I collected myself and was almost felt like a kid on Christmas when Russell threw the 2 4th quarter td passes. I said to myself "at least we scored" Believe me, I know Big J (russell) has it. I've been a fan of him for a while. But when it comes to organization, I don't who should be let go. I don't know if Davis is going scenile or not, if he's not a great owner anymore, well he definitely used to be, we know this. But when it comes to firing Kiffin, ryan, I just don't know, I only get to see a full game twice a year on the east coast if I'm lucky. So Cali please Help me, I don't know if I can live through another 2-14 season again. Thank you
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Al's Wingman 9 months ago
Kiff's got a "huhhhh?" expression in that picture.
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