Oakland Raiders Head Coach Lane Kiffin
By Eric Strauss, S&B Report Staff Columnist
As Lane Kiffin embarks on his second season as Raiders head coach — with the dubious distinction of being the first coach to survive a 12-loss year under owner Al Davis — he is not only trying to save his job, he is trying to avoid moving one step closer to some ignoble history.
The Raiders had losing years during the first three seasons of their existence — pre-Davis, as we all know:
• 6-8 in 1960;
• 2-12 in 1961;
• and bottoming out at 1-13 in 1962.
But during the 40 years Davis has been involved in the organization, from his head coaching debut in 1963 until the Super Bowl XXXVII loss in January 2003, the Raiders had only seven more losing seasons, including a string that saw the team go 23 years with only one in the minus column:
• 5-7-2 in 1964 under Davis;
• 7-9 in the “lame-duck” Oakland season of 1981 under Tom Flores;
• 5-10 in 1987, Flores’ final season as head coach;
• 7-9 in 1988, Mike Shanahan’s only full season;
• 7-9 in 1992 the only losing season of the Art Shell I era;
• 7-9 in 1996, which cost Mike White his job;
• and 4-12 in 1997, the only year of the Joe Bugel “error.”
In that same time, the Raiders nearly matched the seven losing seasons with Super Bowl appearances, playing in the Big Game on five occasions — and winning three world championships:
• Super Bowl II in January 1968 (Green Bay 33, Oakland 14);
• Super Bowl XI in January 1977 (Oakland 32, Minnesota 14);
• Super Bowl XV in January 1981 (Oakland 27, Philadelphia 10);
• Super Bowl XVIII in January 1984 (Los Angeles 38, Washington 9);
• and Super Bowl XXXVIII in January 2003 (Tampa Bay 48, Oakland 21).
That’s not even mentioning nine other appearances in an AFL or AFC championship game during that stretch.
However, if Kiffin can’t double the team’s win total in 2008 — mind you, he accomplished the feat in 2007 — the Raiders will have suffered their sixth straight losing year, following a five-year string of 19-61:
• 4-12 in 2003, which cost Bill Callahan his job a short year after the Super Bowl;
• 5-11 in 2004, when Norv Turner became the first coach to survive a double-digit losing season;
• 4-12 in 2005, which ended Turner’s reign;
• 2-14 in 2006, the only year of Art Shell II, which sadly damaged his reputation;
• 4-12 in 2007 in Kiffin’s debut season.
If, as many “Raider haters” and fans alike are predicting, the Raiders post another record on the downside of the ledger, it could be the end of Kiffin’s tenure as head coach. Even if the Raiders go a competitive 6-10 or 7-9, which might well save Kiffin’s job, it would mean the 2009 team would be trying to avoid a seventh consecutive losing year.
Those seven losing seasons in a row — nothing atypical for some traditionally futile organizations such as the Arizona Cardinals, who have posted one winning season in the past 23, or the Cincinnati Bengals, who have four in the past 25 — would match the 40-year total of Davis’ “Team of the Decades.”
Pretty amazing, considering how much the team and its fans have suffered in recent years.
In a year in which baseball’s Chicago Cubs are “celebrating” 100 years since their last world championship, it’s a reminder that, no matter how black the mood around the Silver & Black lately, this string is, in many ways, a blip on the radar. A big, ugly blip, but a blip nonetheless
Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders head coaches:
• Eddie Erdelatz, 1960-61 (1 1/2 seasons: 0 winning seasons, 1 1/2 losing seasons)
• Marty Feldman, 1961-62 (two 1/2 seasons: 0 winning seasons, two losing 1/2 seasons)
• Red Conkwright, 1962 (1/2 season: 0 winning seasons, 1/2 losing season)
• Al Davis, 1963-65 (three seasons: 2 winning seasons, 1 losing season, 1 Coach of the Year award; member of Pro Football Hall of Fame as all-around contributor)
• John Rauch, 1966-68 (three seasons: 3 winning seasons, 0 losing seasons, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Coach of the Year award)
• John Madden, 1969-1978 (10 seasons: 10 winning seasons, 0 losing seasons, 1 Super Bowl win, 1 Coach of the Year award; member of Pro Football Hall of Fame as coach)
• Tom Flores, 1979-1987 (nine seasons: 6 winning seasons, 2 losing seasons, 1 .500 season, 2 Super Bowl wins, 1 Coach of the Year award)
• Mike Shanahan, 1988-89 (1 1/2 seasons: 0 winning seasons, 1 1/2 losing seasons)
• Art Shell, 1989-1994, 2006 (6 1/2 seasons: 4 1/2 winning seasons, 2 losing seasons, 1 Coach of the Year award; member of Pro Football Hall of Fame as player)
• Mike White, 1995-96 (two seasons: 0 winning seasons, 1 losing season, 1 .500 season)
• Joe Bugel, 1997 (one season: 0 winning seasons, 1 losing season)
• Jon Gruden, 1998-2001 (four seasons: 2 winning seasons, 0 losing seasons, 2 .500 seasons)
• Bill Callahan, 2002-03 (two seasons: 1 winning season, 1 losing season, 1 Super Bowl appearance)
• Norv Turner, 2004-05 (two seasons: 0 winning seasons, 2 losing seasons)
• Lane Kiffin, 2007-present (one season: 0 winning seasons, 1 losing season)
