Oakland Raiders could make Greg Olson interim head coach if Dennis Allen is fired

Aug 8, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. The Vikings defeated the Raiders 10-6. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

The September-long Oakland Raiders head coach hot seat drama took another swerve on Sunday morning as Jason La Canfora of CBS reported that owner Mark Davis has an interim head coach that few had in mind if the team does fire head coach Dennis Allen if the slow start to 2014 continues. That potential interim coach being the much maligned offensive coordinator Greg Olson, who has coached the Raiders to fewer than 21 points scored in all three games to date this season.

According to La Canfora, Davis is mulling his options and one of those could be the offensive coordinator Olson even if offensive line coach Tony Sparano seemed like an obvious favorite due to his head coaching experience with the Miami Dolphins a few years back.

From La Canfora

"Raiders owner Mark Davis, who has considered firing his coach and general manager several times in recent years, has continued to discuss their status with confidants inside and out of the organization following the team’s poor start, according to league sources, with second-year offensive coordinator Greg Olson a strong candidate to take over as interim head coach.Olson has performed well with young quarterbacks in the past and has formed a strong bond with first-round pick Derek Carr, and is highly thought of throughout the organization. The Raiders have yet to win a game, however, and Allen’s defense has been suspect early on and Davis continues to discuss options for re-working the organization.Firing GM Reggie McKenzie in-season is tricky but moving on from Allen is less cumbersome and while some have focused on former Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano as a possible replacement, Davis is trying to evaluate coaches he may want to retain as part of new staff, which makes Olson particularly attractive.Numerous sources with knowledge of the situation, including those who have been in contact with Raiders’ decisions makers, said they would not be surprised in Davis made a coaching change in the bye week – which follows Sunday’s game in England – should the team fail to perform well. Davis is trying to secure a stadium for next season – in the Bay Area or otherwise – by finding ways to put his franchise in position to be attractive to other municipalities. An 0-4 start and blowouts losses certainly don’t help that cause."

The La Canfora report is interesting because Olson may be the one Raiders coach with less popularity amongst the fans than Dennis Allen right now. After all, the Raiders offense with Derek Carr hasn’t exactly showed promise and has been the big reason the team failed to pick up East Coast road wins against the Jets as well as the Patriots. With the defense holding teams to manageable scores and staying amongst top in the league in pass defense so far, Greg Olson’s offense hasn’t been good enough for Mark Davis to be considering this move from an outside perspective looking in. If this happens, it probably wouldn’t be for the best interests of the team longterm as Olson has yet to show anybody why he deserves to be retained if the team cleans house, let alone become the interim head coach for the rest of the 2014 season.