Lane Kiffin is preparing for battle against Al Davis
It seems like the never-ending saga of Lane Kiffin and his relationship with Oakland Raiders’ owner Al Davis takes turns for the worse instead of fading away.
On Friday night, the now head-coach at the University of Tennessee fired back at Davis after a letter sent to the program by the Raiders became public. Per a report on ESPN, Kiffin will give a deposition next week for the grievance he filed against the Silver & Black in which he will seek two months of pay for the time he was unemployed before being hired at Tennessee.
“Starting with Al Davis’ nationally televised press conference publicizing the firing the head coach Lane Kiffin last fall, the Raiders have continued to attack coach Kiffin in the media,” Kiffin’s lawyer, Alan Loewinsohn said in a statement. “That assault continued today, long after he left the Raiders, when the Raiders issued a statement and ‘leaked’ a letter, a letter they wrote months ago to coach Kiffin’s new employer, the University of Tennessee, in which the Raiders again attacked coach Kiffin’s character.
“Starting next Tuesday at a hotel in Oakland, the Raiders will no longer be able to rely on unsupported allegations made in the media, as a key Raiders personnel, starting with Al Davis, will finally have to answer questions under oath at their depositions, a process that coach Kiffin is confident will demonstrate that he was fired by the Raiders without cause and show that the continuing assault of allegations being made against him are false.”
Kiffin was terminated in September by the Raiders, and during a press conference in which Davis detailed Kiffin’s reluctance to draft JaMarcus Russell, the rocky relationship between himself and the former USC staffer and the notion that he wanted out and attempted to do so through insubordinate acts, the seeds of contempt on both sides were planted and in full bloom which has led to continued unnecessary jabbing.
In September, Davis stated during a press conference, “I just couldn’t go on much longer with what I would call, propaganda, the lying that had been going on for weeks, and months, and a year, and time. And he had a few questions, he says ‘does that mean I don’t get paid’, I said that’s what I’m saying to you”
He later continued, “It was after a short period of time that I realized I didn’t hire the person I thought I was hiring.”
The Raiders will have a full round of ammunition when they battle Kiffin and one-complaint will be how Kiffin violated the league constitution, which was amended in March 2008 to require coaches to communicate with, respect and not embarrass ownership.
Davis continued his candor in February when he talked about the former coach’s reluctance to go younger with the roster stating, “[Kiffin] wouldn’t do it. Yeah, he wouldn’t do it. That’s why he got fired.”
He continued, “I tried to reason with the guy [Kiffin]. I thought we could get something out of him. And I wanted to push it through to see if I could push it through. I guess it was my stubbornness too. But he was bad, He was a liar – flat out. Which I told you. I’m never broken away from it. They know it. The players know it.”
Davis has not let up with his bashing of Kiffin in the media. It has gotten ugly. How much uglier can it get though? With Davis making statements like, “All he wanted to do is get out of here and get his money,” back in February, we can only sit back, grab some popcorn and let the drama unfold.
Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist
