Raiders to hire Cable man
After being the interim coach for 12 games, posting a 4-8 record and ending the 2008 season with back-to-back wins, it appears that Tom Cable has convinced the Oakland Raiders’ brass that he is the right man for the job.
According to sources close to the organization, Cable will be named the next head football coach of the Silver & Black.
Cable, 43, served as offensive line coach in his first season with the Raiders and turned around a lowly group that allowed a league high 72-sacks in 2006. That season, Oakland finished sixth in the NFL in rushing. He also helped Robert Gallery turn his career around from a bust tackle to a solid starting guard.
When Oakland parted ways with Lane Kiffin four games into the 2008 campaign – after a tumultuous feud between coach and owner – Cable was pegged for the job in the midst of the team’s worst stretch in modern day history.
“This is in many ways a strange day,” Cable said in September. “I have a friend who lost a job. That’s difficult in this business but, as we know, this is a business. It is time for us to move forward and to put the past behind us. … We have a good coaching staff here and a good football team here.”
Even though the Raiders posted another losing record – becoming the first team ever to lose at least 11 games in six straight seasons – highly regarded players declared their loyalty to Cable when the season ended and let their feelings be known about who should lead the team going into 2009.
“If (Davis) wants to ask or if he’s interested in our opinion, I’m sure any man in this locker room would vouch for (Cable),” commented running back Justin Fargas. “From just the way he’s treated us with respect and raised our expectations.”
The player who the organization needs the most to develop into a great talent even pledge his allegiance to Cable.
“[Cable] brought us from one direction and took us up the ladder,” quarterback JaMarcus Russell said. “He always told us that deep down he thought we were a good football team. By him becoming (head) coach, he guided us in a different way. He talked to us about what needed to be done, we need to make some changes and within that, I think we did.”
The news weeks after reports stated that New York Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride spoke to owner Al Davis on the phone regarding the position on January 3rd, and officially interviewing for the job January in Oakland.
Green Bay Packer assistant head coach and former Raider linebacker Winston Moss was also a candidate for the opening.
Oakland will have to rebuild the staff around Cable, as their defensive coordinator since 2004, Rob Ryan, bolted to Cleveland to reunite with Eric Mangini at the same capacity for the Browns.
Greg Knapp, who was offensive coordinator and called plays for the Raiders before Cable took over that duty as the season wound down, also departed and landed with the Seahawks on Jim Mora’s staff.
“I want to be the head coach of the Raiders, but it’s not in my hands. But I certainly know I put this team together and got it going in the right direction, and today proved that,” replied Cable after the season ending victory in Tampa Bay when asked about his future with the club.
SBReport has also learned that Cable will have full autonomy in hiring his own coaches and surrounding himself with staffers of his choosing.
Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist
