Silver and Black Report

Gerard Warren during his playing days with the Silver & Black.

Last weekend, several former Oakland Raiders were participants on wild-card weekend. How did some of those players/coaches perform on Saturday when the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers engaged in an epic 36-32 contest, and during the New England Patriots romp of the Denver Broncos.

Aaron Kromer – Saints OL coach

The Saints allowed three sacks and had constant pressure put on Drew Brees against a very tough and active 49ers defense. In spite of the 37-yards on only 14 carries, Brees tallied a remarkable 462-yards passing on 40-of-63. With no ground attack, making play action a poor decoy, Brees was still able to rally the Saints for a 32-29 lead on a 66-yard pass to Jimmy Graham late in the final quarter. Kromer’s offensive line was not stellar, and now all three of their five starting linemen can begin to make plans for their trip to the Pro Bowl.

Gerard Warren – Patriots DT

The former 3^rd pick overall in the 2001 draft was a Raider from 2007-2009. He had 10-sacks in Silver & Black. Warren had two tackles, one for a loss on Saturday.

Sterling Moore – Patriots CB

Oakland signed the un-drafted rookie on July of 2011 before being waived in September. Since, he’s been with the Patriots, posting his best game in week-17 when he compiled two interceptions, one that was returned for a touchdown. Moore was very good against the Broncos, tallying two passes defended.

John Fox – Broncos head coach

Fox ended his first year in Denver with a 45-10 drubbing in New England. The Broncos did win the AFC West, had an incredible second-half run after starting 2011 at 2-5, placing them in the cellar of the division.

Jim Harbaugh – 49ers head coach

Harbaugh spent two seasons (2002-03) as an offensive assistant with the Silver & Black. He was part of the staff that helped Rich Gannon earn league MVP honors in 2002. On Saturday, in his first campaign as head coach with San Francisco, he earned a thrilling playoff victory at home against the Saints. “You’ve got to live or die in these games and we live on, and we live on in spectacular fashion. I’m really proud of my guys. I know you had ‘The Catch’ and ‘The Drive,’ I don’t know what you call this one,” said Harbaugh after the contest, referring to Vernon Davis 14-yard catch with nine seconds remaining to cap a 36-32 victory.

John Morton – 49ers WR coach

From 1997-2004, Morton worked for the Raiders in the personnel department, quality control on offense and as a wide receiver coach. He also served briefly as a tight end coach. There, he met Harbaugh, which eventually led to his capacity as receiver’s coach with San Francisco.

Tom Rathman – 49ers RB coach

Served in the same capacity for the Raiders for two seasons, aiding Justin Fargas’ success in attaining his first 1,000+-yard season. Rathman also donned the Silver & Black, playing his final campaign in 1994 with Los Angeles. The 49ers ran for 143-yards on Saturday on 22-carries.

Last week’s look at ex-Raiders, click here.

NOTE

• Tom Brady’s six touchdown passes versus the Broncos tied him with Steve Young and Daryle Lamonica for most scoring tosses in a single post-season game.

Follow @cottovic

Agent Jack Bechta, who represents Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh, refuted a story that his client interviewed for the Oakland Raiders or that he was offered the job to coach the club.

“There is no truth to the rumors that Jim Harbaugh or I have met with the Raiders,” Bechta told the National Football post.

“Further, Jim has not interviewed with nor been offered the head coaching job of the Oakland Raiders. Jim and Al (Davis, team owner) have a very special relationship full of mutual respect. However, the rumors circulating are absolutely false.”

The Raiders still have not made a decision publicly about Tom Cable’s future with the club, but rumors have circulated about possible candidates for the eventual opening if he is jettisoned.

Hue Jackson has recently made a trip to Oakland to interview for a mystery job.

Raider executives have also shot down any reports that they have interviewed coaches such as Jim Fassel and Marc Trestman.

“The reports that we’ve interviewed prospective head coaches are totally untrue, totally false,” John Herrera told the Oakland Tribune.

Fassel stated on Siirus.XM radio that he hasn’t been contacted by the Silver & Black and that he is not lobbying for a position.

Unlike Rob Ryan, who stated, “Hell, yeah, I’d have interest,” if Oakland had an opening.

Trestman has been linked to the Raiders, but his agent also denied some of the news circulating about his client.

“All I can tell you is Marc’s the head coach of the Alouettes and has not interviewed for any jobs,” agent, Darren Weiner reported to The Montreal Gazette. “Nor is he trying to position himself for any jobs. There’s no news to report. He’s the head coach (of Montreal). That’s it.”

Reports today have circulated about the Oakland Raiders reaching out to current Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh. Even though no decision has been made regarding Tom Cable’s future, insiders have stated that Harbaugh was talked about being their next coach, but the former NFL quarterback was not interested in the job.

Jim Fassel has also been rumored about for some time now, but he trashed any thoughts of him throwing his own hat into the ring on Sirius.XM Radio on Wednesday commenting, “I’m not lobbying for the Raider job. I have never in my life rooted for a coach to be let go so there’s an opening. I never have.”

Fassel, who is the head coach of the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL, has had his name come up in the past when Oakland had openings and his son – John – is the current special teams coordinator for the Silver & Black.

Other names such as Winston Moss and Marc Trestman have also surfaced.

SBReport.net learned on January 12^th that Trestman was a leading candidate if there was an opening and that Oakland had serious interest in the current coach of the Montreal Alouettes that play in the Canadian Football League.

Cable has been in limbo since the end of the 2009 season. And per John Herrera, both Al Davis and Cable have talked while other coaches have contacted Oakland for positions.

“Most of the characterizations of Al Davis’ meetings with the head coach being short or brief are not true either,” Herrera said. “Mr. Davis has had meetings of some depth with the head coach. There have been meetings and meetings of substance.”

He continued: “A lot of people have called inquiring about coaching positions.”

ESPN has reported that Hue Jackson is under consideration to take over as the offensive coordinator.

Many of these rumors can lead you to believe that Davis may still be considering keeping Cable and delegating other duties to new staffers. As stated in an article on SBREPORT.NET, Davis could be setting up varying parameters for Cable’s return.

Or, Davis is testing the waters to see what’s available if and when he decides to pull the plug on Cable.

Either way, Davis’ actions right now are very undermining and not very loyal. Especially if he’s partaking in these interviews with candidates such as Jackson to comply with the Rooney Rule.

Cable right now appears like a puppet; a coach who is just in purgatory.

But one thing he has been is loyal. And more importantly, a guy who wants the job and has shown great pride in being the Raiders coach.