Nobody Crosses Al Davis
By zbest
Updated
Disclaimer: In no way does the JustBlogBaby website or Fan-Sided community support Mr. Davis’ right to run the Oakland Raiders. Certain rights must be taken away from people who illustrate the inability to behave in an intelligent manner.
ESPN is reporting that Al Davis is trying to force Lane Kiffin out of Oakland. Here are the details from ESPN.com:
"Al Davis has been pushing for coach Lane Kiffin to resign and is considering Dennis Green as a potential replacementDavis has gone so far as to draft a letter of resignation for Kiffin to sign, a source said. Kiffin has refused to do so but has dared Davis to fire him instead. The letter, the source said, was sent to Kiffin two weeks ago.Just this week at the Senior Bowl, Kiffin and Ryan said their relationship was fine and expected to be coaching the team in 2008. But Davis has not rescinded his request for Kiffin to step down, a source said.As for Green’s candidacy, while team sources said Davis has reached out to the veteran coach, Green said Friday, “I haven’t really talked to Al about any coaching job but, really, how many times has my name been mentioned every time something goes on with the Raiders?”"
This posting and where I stand is based completely off what’s being reported. One thing to keep in mind; there’s one guy that might be talking a lot of trash because the Raiders got rid of him. Mike Lombard was released by the Raiders last May, but still has friends in the front office. At first it’s believed that he released rumors to guys like ESPN’s Chris Mortensen about the mess that ensued after the hiring of Art Shell. Now he might be continuing with rumors that don’t exist. I say this because NFL.com has just reported that the Raiders are completely denying what ESPN is reporting, and comments all week from Ryan and Kiffin have been nothing but positive:
"“There is no issue here,” Raiders senior executive John Herrera said. “There was never an issue here. There’s nothing to it.”Kiffin told reporters at the Senior Bowl earlier in the week that his relationship with Ryan “is not an issue.”"
Even ESPN reported that:
"Kiffin and Ryan said their relationship was fine and expected to be coaching the team in 2008"
NFL.com is also reporting that “Kiffin is scheduled to interview former San Diego Chargers receivers coach James Lofton,” but in the ESPN report it’s almost like the informant told Mortensen information that’s the exact opposite from the truth: “the Raiders will interview James Lofton on Monday for a job, a source said. Oakland is looking for a wide receivers coach and Lofton, who has interviewed in the past to be head coach of the Raiders, was recently fired as San Diego’s receivers coach.” As if to say that the Raiders are already looking to replace Kiffin, but Lofton’s interview is with Kiffin. Imagine being Lofton and learning that the guy your about to interview with won’t be with the organization. It’s all this that makes me a little skeptical of what ESPN’s reporting.
If the Chris Mortensen’s report is true, then I’ll post what I think it means.