Whatever the circumstances the Raiders have one less option to replace Greg Knapp. As usual Trestman’s name surfaced again something that has become a bit of a tradition recently during Oakland’s many coaching searches.

So even if the Raiders are again engaging in a coaching search of some kind next year (odds are pretty strong) Trestman won’t be on that list. At least he won’t unless things go horrible in Chicago and he’s one and done. But something tells me Trestman didn’t grind all these years as an NFL assistant that had to go to Canada to get his first head coaching gig only to give it all away after his first season at the helm of an NFL franchise.

It’s annual tradition for the Oakland Raiders to be searching for coaches this time of year. We’ve gotten accustomed to it during the last decade. However it’s not officially a coaching search until the name Marc Trestman reappears.

Guess what?

The search is on!

Silver and Black Pride is among the outlets reporting that the Raiders have reached out to Trestman for the open offensive coordinator position. Of course Trestman was an OC in Oakland once upon a time in a very distant era in which the Raiders were Super Bowl participants. That’s seems like ages ago.

However it’s been another tradition in recent years for Trestman’s name to pop up whenever there is a job opening in Oakland. Over the years Trestman has been rumored to be in the running for positions as high as head coach of the Raiders.

Another rumor making the rounds on Trestman was that he was offered the Bears head coaching gig. Trestman himself has since shot down that rumor first started by former Cowboys coach Jimmie Johnson. So it would appear he is very much on the market still.

Over the weekend the first name in Oakland’s offensive coordinator search trickled out. Mike Martz interviewed and now apparently so too has Trestman. So the search is officially on. As more teams see their season end more names will no doubt surface.

The biggest domino of all – Tom Cable – fell earlier in the week. With a seemingly smooth path paved for Jackson to go from coordinator to head coach, the only other obstacles were outside offers.

Just a few weeks ago there were rumors out there that Jackson had suitors-a-plenty in the NFL. Right about now that well has run dry.

With Jim Harbaugh changing his place of work from Palo Alto to The City, Jackson’s earlier meeting with the 49ers looks more like a Rooney Rule compliance and nothing more. Hue was thought to be a possible replacement for Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati. At least he was until Lewis was retained by the Bengals.

Unless Jackson is setting up interviews for other vacancies in the NFL or quietly plotting a return to college ball then he has noting else to do now but sit back and wait for the inevitable to become reality. Again, no telling how long that will take. Perhaps Davis will trot out the usual suspects to interview just to make it look like he didn’t intentionally stick that knife in Cable’s back.

So bring them on. Let’s hear those familiar names again of Marc Trestman, Jim Fassel and Winston Moss. Let’s spend another week or two engaging in pointless debates and aimless media speculation. Let’s do what we always seem to do about this time – speculate on who will be the next ex-coach of the Oakland Raiders.

I hope Hue has been paying attention. Come this time next year we could be saying the same things about him as Davis will be unsatisfied unless his Raiders magically become Super Bowl contenders. Then again, unless they’re contending the Davis way then it won’t matter how well Jackson does. He’ll get Cable’d if he dares to do things his way.

So, while we wait for the obvious to occur, why not speculate on something else? Why not ask the question everybody really wants to know? Hey, Al Davis, why don’t you come down from your perch and coach this team?