Silver and Black Report

Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable talked to the National Football Post while he was observing action in Mobile, Alabama during Senior Bowl activities.

He applauded the Raiders decision to bring in Hue Jackson as their offensive coordinator.

“I think it’s a good decision by the organization,” Cable stated today. “It’s someone that I’m familiar with. It’s someone that I think can help us take the next step, so we’re all pretty excited about it.”

He sounded like a coach fully entrenched in his job with no worries about any of the rumors regarding his demise.

“Well, I think we have a chance,” Cable said. “I think we’ve gotten to that level of competitiveness that it takes. The next step will be the hardest, and that’s getting to the playoffs. But that will be the goal.”

“We’ve been meeting constantly and talking about how we can get better,” Cable commented about the struggling Raiders, who have now compiled seven straight seasons with 11 or more losses. “We’re continuing to do that as we get ready for the draft.”

Also, on the official Raiders web site, the Silver & Black officially acknowledged the additions of offensive coordinator Hue Jackson and defensive line coach Mike Waufle.

Johnnie Lee Higgins participated in the 2007 Senior Bowl

The 60^th annual Senior Bowl will be played Saturday, January 30 at 4:00 pm ET at Mobile, Alabama.

More importantly, the practices begin January 25. And there is where hundreds of NFL coaches, personnel directors, scouts and many other staffers from professional clubs go to observe and evaluate potential draft picks and talent that will be available in the coming months.

In the past, Oakland Raider coaches have spearheaded the staffs in charge of the squads. Here is a list of those that donned Silver & Black that were at the helm of a sideline during the Senior Bowl:

2008 – Lane Kiffin

2005 – Norv Turner

1999 – Jon Gruden

1992 – Art Shell

What will be interesting is whether or not the Raiders will send a large contingent to Mobile for scouting?

One team – the New York Giants – have already reportedly decided not to send their coaches next week due to varying reasons such as the economy, the new stadium and pending labor situation states the NJ Star Ledger. But I guess that is not a crippling thing, since they didn’t either two years ago right before their Super Bowl winning season.

Oakland still has a staff in place, and Tom Cable is technically still the coach of the Raiders.

Al Davis has not announced his fate, but at this point, isn’t safe to say that Cable is still the head coach until further notice? If there’s even a need to make that publicly.

Mike Waufle has been hired, Hue Jackson has been bantered about and Cable is still on board.

With the Senior Bowl work-outs around the corner, maybe things will become clearer over the next couple of days.

Tommy Kelly and co. should be happy with Mike Waufle

Several media outlets on Friday reported that the Oakland Raiders have hired Mike Waufle to coach the defensive line.

Waufle was the Silver & Black’s defensive line coach from 1998-to-2003 and was in that same capacity the last six campaigns. The Giants fired him earlier in the year.

Waufle was one of the more beloved coaches on the Giants staff for some time. His teaching techniques were applauded by standouts such as Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora – players who strived and were very productive linemen within his schemes.

Tom Coughlin admired his style – tough work ethic – as the former Marine was methodical in his approach with his players.

“I am extremely saddened by it,” Umenyiora reported to The Associated Press in an e-mail after his firing. “He is a great coach and we have a special relationship. I’m sure he will be OK though because there should be very high demand for a coach of his caliber.”

Waufle, 55, will inherit a unit with a lot of young talent.

But the biggest key will be the return of Richard Seymour. If Seymour is back in Oakland and Matt Shaughnessy and Desmond Bryant can continue to develop into competent contributors, this bunch could be very good.

Veterans like Greg Ellis, Gerard Warren and Tommy Kelly should benefit from Waufle’s arrival.

But the keys here is how he will improve their discipline, gap control and make them a better run stuffing unit.

The Raiders have had one of the worst run defenses since 2003:

2009 – 29^th in the NFL – 155.5 yds/g

2008 – 31^st in the NFL – 159.7 yds/g

2007 – 31^st in the NFL – 145.9 yds/g

2006 – 25^th in the NFL – 134.0 yds/g

2005 – 25^th in the NFL – 128.1 yds/g

2004 – 22^nd in the NFL – 125.8 yds/g

2003 – 32^nd in the NFL – 156.9 yds/g

Dwaine Board was the Raiders defensive line coach last season.

So far this off-season, Oakland has done a great job adding good coaching to their sideline. But this is just one move – hiring Waufle. There are many to go, and one of utmost importance that we have awaited for weeks.

Insidebayarea.com posted a report that former Oakland Raiders wide receiver Jerry Porter had $312,000 worth of jewelry stolen.

Porter told officials that someone took his jewelry from his vehicle while he went for a facial at a Bay Area salon.

According to staff writer Peter Hegarty, Porter was going to speak to the Alameda police about the happening this afternoon. Porter did not show up for the meeting and officials are still sorting out the details of the robbery.

The 31-year old still resides in Oakland.

He was cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars at the start of the 2009 campaign after signing a six-year, $30 million contract with them in 2008.

Porter’s best season came in 2003 when he tallied 688-yards and 9 touchdowns, being a key cog in Rich Gannon’s league MVP campaign. He teamed up with hall of fame bound targets Jerry Rice and Tim Brown to form the most prolific offense of that season in reaching Super Bowl XXVII.

In 2004 an 2005, Porter compiled 140 catches for 1,940 yards and 14 touchdowns. But in 2006, he publicly feuded with Art Shell and demanded to be traded. He was deactivated and inactive for most of the season even suspended without pay for conduct detrimental to the club for four games.

“There’s guys every year that might not want to be on a team, but, hey, part of this business is you play with who you’ve got,” Shell stated that season. “If we have somebody on this team that’s here, whether he said he wants to be here or not, if he’s doing what he’s supposed to do, then we’ll go to work.”

The NFLPA intervened and the suspension was dropped to two games.

Porter was drafted in the second round of the 2000 NFL draft.

OTHER NEWS

• Steve Corkran confirmed a story that had the Raiders interested in rehiring defensive line coach Mike Waufle.
• Earlier in the day, Jon Condo was added to the Pro Bowl roster.