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Oakland Raiders top-10 head coaches in franchise history

By Brad Weiss

Oakland head coach Art Shell after the game as the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Oakland Raiders by a score of 20 to 9 at McAfee Coliseum, Oakland, California, December 23, 2006. (Photo by Robert B. Stanton/NFLPhotoLibrary)
Oakland head coach Art Shell after the game as the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Oakland Raiders by a score of 20 to 9 at McAfee Coliseum, Oakland, California, December 23, 2006. (Photo by Robert B. Stanton/NFLPhotoLibrary) /
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PITTSBURGH – DECEMBER 7: Head coach Bill Callahan of the Oakland Raiders watches from the sidelines during the fourth quarter of the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on December 7, 2003 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers defeated the Raiders 27-7. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH – DECEMBER 7: Head coach Bill Callahan of the Oakland Raiders watches from the sidelines during the fourth quarter of the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on December 7, 2003 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers defeated the Raiders 27-7. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images) /

. Bill Callahan. 8. team. 28. . 2002-03 Record: 15-17

During Jon Gruden’s first term as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, Bill Callahan was trusted to be his offensive coordinator. When Gruden was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Callahan was the one to step up and assume the role of head coach, and his first season at the helm could not have gone better.

In 2002, Callahan led a playoff-ready Raiders team into the playoffs, as the team capped off an 11-5 regular season. With aspirations to give Raider Nation their first Super Bowl win since 1983, Callahan would go up against Gruden and those Buccaneers, and they came out on the wrong end of a very lopsided Super Bowl.

Callahan and his team lost to the Buccaneers by the score of 48-21, and while the loss was embarrassing, so was some of the stuff the team was saying after the beat-down. Guys like Jerry Rice were saying Callahan sabotaged the team, and changed up the gameplan at the last second, putting the Raiders in a very comprised position.

While Rice backtracked on his words, the damage was done, and when the Raiders finished 4-12 the following season, Callahan was shown the door. The 2002 season was actually the franchise’s last winning season until 2016, and based on the fact he got the team to the Super Bowl, he lands at No. 8 all-time in Raiders history despite his 15-17 record as the head coach.

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