Is Tom Cable the Greatest Thing Since Cox Cable or Just a Cable Guy?

With the expected announcement on Wednesday, Feb. 4 that the "Interim" has been removed from Oakland Raiders Interim Head Coach Tom Cable, the question being asked by the Silver and Black faithful: Is this the right move for the Raiders franchise, or could Al Davis have done better?

After a woeful 1-3 start, Oakland Raiders Owner Al Davis took a page from Rod Stewart and decided in late September that then Head Coach Lane Kiffin should be "back in school." After a bizarre press conference unlike any ever seen in NFL history, Davis castigated Lane Kiffin in a way that would have made Karl Rove proud before introducing Tom Cable as the Interim Head Coach for the remainder of the 2008 season.

With two games to go in the 16 game season and a 2-8 won-lost record under Cable, I would have thought there was a better chance of Larry the Cable Guy being the Raiders Head Coach in 2009 than Tom Cable.

Then, a couple of funny things happened. First, the Raiders won their home finale for the first time in a few years, beating the resurgent Houston Texans 27-16. In the season finale, a trip to Tampa Bay loomed with the Bucs trying to cement a playoff berth and the Raiders going nowhere but home.

In an ironic twist, the Oakland Raiders had a chance to stick pins in a Chucky doll and knock the hated Jon Gruden out of the postseason if the Philadelphia Eagles beat Dallas.

Who could have known that the Raiders' thumping of the favored Bucs along with the Eagles' thrashing of the Cowboys would ultimately cost Jon Gruden, the poster boy of the Napoleonic complex, his job as well?

Oakland's most famous former coach, John Madden, has a saying that a player or coach who is average at best is "just a guy." So the question needs to be asked, is Tom Cable a legitimate NFL head coach or "just a Cable guy?"

Although there are reservations about Cable, he never seemed to get a handle on how to use Darren McFadden after "DMac's" return from the injured list for instance, with those two wins, Tom Cable earned a chance to see what he can do for a full season, in my opinion.

Proven NFL Head Coaches in their prime aren't exactly lining up around the block to work for Al Davis, for one thing. Although former New York Giants head man Jim Fassel reportedly sent a letter to Davis asking for the job, Fassel was fired from his latest gig in Baltimore after failing to revive a moribund Ravens' offense.

Mike Shanahan and Jon Gruden are suddenly available. Their chances of returning to Oakland were only slightly better than, say mine, although I could be had for a mil or two per. Are you reading this, Mr. Davis? Not that either of the two would take the job, you know?

Anyway, if Tom Cable can find a top quarterback coach to speed the development of JaMarcus Russell, figure out how best to use all those running backs (or trade one for a draft pick or a receiver), and protect Russell, he can have a successful run in Oakland.

If Tom can't "git-r-done", is that other Cable Guy available? If the recent trend of winning from 2-5 games a season continues, Al Davis may bury Cable underground or or put Cable on a car to San Francisco.

In any event, tomorrow, sometime between 8 AM and 7 PM, the Cable guy will arrive. It remains to be seen if he will be given the tools to succeed. The Raiders' leading WR had an anemic 22 catches this season.

For the offense to improve, Johnnie Lee Higgins will need to continue to develop to give the team a complement to TE Zach Miller and the talented young backs.

Like the '90s flick The Cable Guy, starring Jim Carey, this Cable guy has lots of work to do. Let's hope the sequel has a better ending.