To Coach Or Not To Coach, That Is The Question

I promised my Brother I would not give my weekly cheer for the Raiders in the edition of Raider-Man. It is hard, but I will try to keep my word.

What went wrong in the Bills game? I have heard it all. Now, here is the truth.

Coaching did not lose the game for the Raiders. I have heard from every Raider-hater and Raider-fan I know and they all say it is the Coaches fault the Raiders lost, because he failed to use the 2 timeouts he had in the last 4 minutes of the game. When I was Coaching high school and Pop Warner football, many years ago, I was told "Never leave your timeouts on the table. Even if you are winning. They give you timeouts to use, not save." I still believe that to this day...except when you have the lead. In the case of Sundays game, I think Lane Kiffin figured, "My defense is tired. The Bills have the momentum. Let's just end this." Is that the right mindset to have. No, but it is a posibility. You have a Defensive Co-Ordinator who refuses to communicate with the Head Coach, his boss. You have an Owner/Managing General Partner who will not speak to his Head Coach nor will he insist that the Defensive Co-Ordinator get on the same page as the Head Coach. He will not even fire the Defensive Coordinator, because they are buddies. But, to get back to the game, clock management did not lose the game, conditioning lost the game. Lack of work, lost the game. Not pushing ones self, lost the game.

Hear me out, because I am about to step on my soap box. The Head Coach is not the only person who can call timeout. Repeat that last statement 3 more times. Now, The Raiders lost the game to the Bills because the Raider defense ran out of breath. The were swashbuckling for 3 quarters. They had the Bills number. We all saw a Raider team that would not be denied. But, when the 4th quarter began, the air ran out of the tires. The Bills did not suddenly find something that worked, they ran the same thing they ran all day. It is just that the Raiders defense got tired and could no longer stop them.

Who is to blam, then? Not the Head Coach, the Defensive Coach. While I think he is the best Defensive Coach in the league, he failed to have his man ready for FULL battle by week 3 of the season. He is mad because the Head Coach, his boss, asked the owner to fire him. He is not fired, the Head Coach is not fired, get over it and come together. Agree to disagree and win a Superbowl.

The media wasted 30 minutes of a press conference trying to anger Lane Kiffin by asking him if anyone in the Raiders organization has told him he is fired. The media clearly wants him fired, fans in Oakland holding signs on T.V. that say "Fire Kiffin!", want him fired. But wait, the Raider players DO NOT want him fired. They finally get the picture and are behind their Head Coach. They are playing better. They are playing together. It is a long season and lots of things will happen. Wait, watch and see if I am right.

As for Lane Kiffin's firing...it ain't happnin'. If you have ever followedthe Raiders you know one thing, Al Davis is the cheapest owner in the league. He hates to give money away. If you recall, When Mike Shanahan was hired, Al had a feeling he was still loyal to the Broncos. So, he made him sign that, after he was done with the Raiders, he would not go back to the Broncos as Head Coach for at least 3 years or he would lose the balance of the pay from his contract. Shanahan was fired after losing to the Broncos. The next week he went back to the Broncos as Head Coach and thought he would still get paid by the Raiders. Al said "No way!", Shanahan said "I'll see you in court!". Shanahan lost. While Kiffin does not have that kind of clause in his contract, if he is fired he will be paid about 15 to 20 million. Al is not going to give up that much money in one lump sum. You will have to work that off. That is why Kiffin will not quit. If he does, he gets nothing. He will be fired, that is the fate of all Raider Head Coaches. It's just not going to happen anytime soon. Wait until he is closer to the end of his contract, like when he has 1 year left. Hopefully, the Raiders will when the Superbowl before that comes.

Sorry Brother, I have to do this...The Raiders will defeat the Chargers this Sunday in Oakland. The Chargers key players are injured, they have no respect for the Raiders and that lack of respect will be their downfall. They are looking past the Raiders and the Raiders are tough on offense and defense.

Raider-Man, out!