Davis Fires Kiffin......I'm in Shock

The Raiders finally fired Head Coach Lane Kiffin today, ending months of speculation that his tenure as head coach would not last much longer. This came as a shock to nobody, including Kiffin himself.

The speculation began following last season, when Kiffin, the youngest head coach in the league (only 33 years old now), had just finished his first season as head coach of the Raiders. Kiffin wanted to fire defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and replace him with his father, Monte Kiffin, one of the best coordinators in NFL history. Owner Al Davis wouldn't let him do it. Davis tried to get Kiffin to resign, Kiffin refused. Since then, it has been pretty clear that it wouldn't be a matter of whether Davis fired Kiffin, but more a matter of when.

The matter of how does bring up some questions, however. Rather than fire Kiffin in a face-to-face meeting, Davis chose to do it over the phone. Personally, I would have preferred a singing telegram, but that might just be me. Perhaps more importantly, Kiffin was fired without pay. Now I'm no lawyer, and I haven't seen his contract, but I find it a little hard to believe that Davis can do that. In fact, continuing to get paid may have been the biggest reason Kiffin refused to resign, because resignation equals no money while pink slip equals money. A simple formula, really. Now it remains to be seen whether this will ring true.

In Kiffin's one plus years as coach, the Raiders have clearly become more competitive, although the record hasn't shown that as much. It also usually takes more than a year to turn a team around. Case in point, Bill Belichick's first year with the Patriots, the team went 5-11. The following year, when they eventually went on to win the Super Bowl, they started out 1-3, which, wouldn't you know it, is the Raiders' record right now. And of course since that season, the Patriots have won 2 more Super Bowls, appeared in one more, and had a winning record in every season.

Now I'm not saying Kiffin is another Belichick, a Hall of Fame coach, I'm merely pointing out that these things can take a little bit of time, and patience isn't a bad thing. Of course, if history is any indication, Al Davis doesn't know the meaning of patience. Interim coach Tom Cable, who was tabbed to replace Kiffin, is the team's fifth head coach since the start of the 2003 season, when their streak of season's with a losing record began. For those counting at home, that is five coaches in six years. If that isn't a lack of patience, I don't know what is.

Which brings up my next point. Bill Belichick has control of personnel on the Patriots, something that Kiffin never had with the Raiders. In fact, he was against some of the major free agent signings in the offseason. Who does have control? Al Davis of course. With all those coaching changes, Davis is the only thing constant with the team. Not only is he the one who brings in the players, but he also brings in the coaches. But like a child with ADD who tires of a toy quickly, Davis tires of his coaches and sends them packing.

As for Kiffin, as I mentioned earlier, he is only 33 years old. He will get another job, whether as a head coach or an assistant, and should eventually be an NFL head coach again. Who knows, maybe he'll "pull a Mike Shanahan." Shanahan, of course, was a young coach (37), much like Kiffin, who was fired by Al Davis during his second season at the helm of the Raiders, much like Kiffin. In fact, Shanahan even still believes he is owed money by Davis, which may or may not end up happening to Kiffin. But what did Shanahan do after he was fired? After becoming an assistant on the Broncos, then the 49ers, he was hired as head coach of the (Raiders division rival) Broncos in 1995, six years after being fired. Since then, he has become one of the best and most respected coaches in the league, winning 62.7 percent of his games and two Super Bowls since then.

Will Kiffin end up doing something similar, going to another AFC West team, being more successful, and rubbing it in Al Davis' face? I don't know. But I do know that the Kansas City Chiefs head coaching job may be open soon. I'm just saying....