Bolder change than Cable is needed by Oakland

Bolder change than Cable is needed by Oakland
January 4 Oakland Tribune columnist Monte Poole

"HE UNDERUTILIZED his most electrifying offensive threat, neglected his only punishing runner and, on a fourth-and-10 play, called upon his 300-pound kicker to catch a pitchout and scoot for the first down.

Despite his usage of Darren McFadden and Michael Bush and Sebastian Janikowski, Raiders interim head coach Tom Cable remains among the candidates to become the team's head coach in 2009.

A good football man, Cable most certainly would deserve to be in the discussion — if this were a fair competition, based on merit.

It's not. Can't be, given the predicament in which the Raiders have placed themselves.

They have been so bad, for so long, with so many ineffectual and ridiculous moves, they can't afford to promote Cable.

Doesn't matter that he might be capable. Doesn't matter that he coached Oakland to wins in its final two games, the last an impressive upset of Tampa Bay, knocking former Raiders employees Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen out of the playoffs.

Doesn't even matter that Cable might be the most effective position coach the Raiders have hired in a decade — not when he has the misfortune of being associated with the Raiders as they are.

The Raiders have to show themselves — and their fans — they have learned from the past and will apply those lessons to the future. They have to show a readiness and willingness to undergo dramatic change. Move in another direction, flushing the old, failing operating model and embracing the new.

President-elect Barack Obama's successful campaign was driven by the message of change. That message could not have been sold so well, would not have resonated with so many, had the Bush administration not become so closely identified with routine secrecy, purposeful deceit and a series of spectacular blunders.

The American public, sick and tired of the status quo, demanded a change. They dictated not just change but change that can be seen and heard and felt.

Raiders fans, sick and tired of the losing and the ridicule and the ineptitude, know the feeling.

So, too, do the Raiders, who really don't enjoy being among the least successful organizations in professional sports.

Raiders boss Al Davis, stubborn as he is, is capable of considering the methods and opinions of others. He went outside his comfort zone to hire Mike Shanahan in 1988, consulted with Bill Walsh before promoting Mike White in 1995 and went with his gut in luring Gruden to Oakland in 1998. The hiring of Lane Kiffin, a reach to be sure, is another example of Davis thinking outside the Silver-and-Black box.

So don't tell me Al won't listen to others or deviate from the familiar.

And he has to realize the decision he now faces may be the most crucial since he seized the franchise more than 40 years ago."
Link