JMFP Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/don_banks/01/04/coaching/ Predicting Al Davis's next move is always risky, but indications point to the Raiders owner lowering the boom on head coach Tom Cable at some point in the coming 10 days. Davis reportedly will meet with Cable and his coaching staff next week for his year-end wrap-up, and one source I talked to proposed a scenario in which Davis might even try to entice Cable to stay as a coordinator, serving under a new head coach. That way Davis would at least give some nod to the importance of continuity in Oakland, and acknowledge that Cable is popular with his players, who have lobbied for him to be retained. By drawing out his decision on Cable into next week, Davis, perhaps, can buy himself some time to find a head coach Cable would consider working for. The problem with that scenario is obvious: Davis wants to bring in an offensive-minded coach who can focus almost exclusively on salvaging the struggling career of quarterback JaMarcus Russell, and clearly Cable is not a fan of Russell's work. That became clear-cut last week when Cable was asked if Oakland would have made the playoffs with just decent quarterbacking this season, and Cable responded: "You know we would have.'' Though the Raiders record didn't improve this season, staying at 5-11 for a second consecutive year, Davis is aware that Oakland became more competitive than at any other point in its franchise-worst seven-year streak of 11-plus loss seasons. Davis doesn't want to lose the respectability that Cable earned with wins over Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Denver this season. But he's hell bent on proving himself right for drafting Russell first overall in 2007, and his next head coach is going to inherit Russell as his starter. No questions asked. Though Charlie Weis might be Davis's stretch candidate, Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride continues to be the name most likely to surface in Oakland if Cable is fired. There's little question Gilbride is eager for another head coaching opportunity after his short, failed stint in San Diego in the late '90s. Former Giants head coach Jim Fassel also has been a near perennial candidate in Oakland -- meaning every two years or so. (See Bill Callahan, Norv Turner, Art Shell and Lane Kiffin). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorillaNJ Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Sweet Baby Jesus, please let this be true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Gilbride isn't leaving, surprised Davis is still fighting off the urge to just coach the team himself. Can't find anyone to do it or let anyone he can find do it without meddling in every way possible anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Sweet Baby Jesus, please let this be true i don't know man. Could be a case of the grass is greener on the other side. I don't remember the Giants O being as good as this year. if it wasn't for the defense having chronic diarrhea, we'd be having a different kind of discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYG Hampton 27 Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 i don't know man. Could be a case of the grass is greener on the other side. I don't remember the Giants O being as good as this year. if it wasn't for the defense having chronic diarrhea, we'd be having a different kind of discussion. True, a lot of people talk smack about Gilbride, myself included, but taking a look at what he's done shows he hasn't been half bad. Actually quite good, especially considering the defense wasn't exactly getting off the field like it use to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boohyah Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I think Fassel is going to get that job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishgutmartyr Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Look at the bright side--if this does happen, you get to see how this offense was "held back" by Gilbride. Or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorillaNJ Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 i don't know man. Could be a case of the grass is greener on the other side. I don't remember the Giants O being as good as this year. if it wasn't for the defense having chronic diarrhea, we'd be having a different kind of discussion. Really? I would say I do not remember seeing such a good passing game but the running of the 07 team will win you many more games then passing. Teams had no fear of a running game because they know that Gilbride prefers to pass. Even the best offensive games of this season against the (Redskins, Oakland, Eagles G2) were the best running performance of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fringe Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 coordinators get so much credit and so much blame around here. someone mentioned fassell, he's the guy that brought offense to the giants. before him, it was kind of a foreign concept. and coughlin is another offensive mind and also the head coach. most of the offense is straight out of the coughlin philosophy. watch the mid 90's jaguars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Really? I would say I do not remember seeing such a good passing game but the running of the 07 team will win you many more games then passing. Teams had no fear of a running game because they know that Gilbride prefers to pass. Even the best offensive games of this season against the (Redskins, Oakland, Eagles G2) were the best running performance of the season. Correct but that's not an indictment against Gilbride. When we had earth wind and fire, our Running game was unstoppable. In hindsight, we should've tried harder to resign ward. Unlike the Defense, Gilbride has been there all along.. whereas defensively, Sheridan shit his pants and paid for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorillaNJ Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Correct but that's not an indictment against Gilbride. When we had earth wind and fire, our Running game was unstoppable. In hindsight, we should've tried harder to resign ward. Unlike the Defense, Gilbride has been there all along.. whereas defensively, Sheridan shit his pants and paid for it. I do not think Ward was a huge loss (Average 3.6 yards per carry this year), the team was less committed to the run and less effective when they did decide to run it this season. I think the team going away from the run to the pass is a result of Eli becoming a better QB and Gil wanting to make him the focal point of the offense.... The offense did not exactly light it up the last two games either... a couple of garbage points late in a blow out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I do not think Ward was a huge loss (Average 3.6 yards per carry this year), the team was less committed to the run and less effective when they did decide to run it this season. I think the team going away from the run to the pass is a result of Eli becoming a better QB and Gil wanting to make him the focal point of the offense.... The offense did not exactly light it up the last two games either... a couple of garbage points late in a blow out. Correct but we're a run first team despite a couple of Gilbride out of character game plans. Point is Glibride's pros far outweigh his cons. We let John Fox go to Carolina and as tough as it was to keep him, maybe we should've made an effort to do so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 If it was just about ypc, you might have an argument. I do not think Ward was a huge loss (Average 3.6 yards per carry this year), the team was less committed to the run and less effective when they did decide to run it this season. I think the team going away from the run to the pass is a result of Eli becoming a better QB and Gil wanting to make him the focal point of the offense.... The offense did not exactly light it up the last two games either... a couple of garbage points late in a blow out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishgutmartyr Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Really? I would say I do not remember seeing such a good passing game but the running of the 07 team will win you many more games then passing. Teams had no fear of a running game because they know that Gilbride prefers to pass. Even the best offensive games of this season against the (Redskins, Oakland, Eagles G2) were the best running performance of the season. Before going too crazy on the whole abandoning the run thing, keep in mind Gilbride's most effective back this year was carrying the ball with two bad ankles and at least one broken foot; the other main cog is going under arthroscopic knee surgery; a third spent a large chunk of the season with a dislocated elbow and a concussion; and his fullback had a shoulder injury going back to preseason. The rookie never made it out of pre-season. Our only healthy back was on another team's practice squad when the season started. There was only so much running those guys could do. If anything, Gilbride should be given credit for getting as much out of the offense as he did this year: a really depleted running game, injuries on the line, and receivers that were all first-time starters in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_NYG Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Gilbride needs to go. Yes the offense played well this season and the defense was just a bunch of cocklicks. But Gilbride's problem is consistency. He is not a smart coach. One week the O is up, the next its abyssmal. And 'smart' OCs DO NOT FUCKING CALL A DRAW ON 3rd and 5 - MULTIPLE TIMES. Dipshit imbecile OCs do that. While the O has been quite good, its the sudden spurts of absolute idiocy that comes out of Gilbride that worries me. Get rid of both OC and DC and fucking Crennel and Weiss in here!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazedDogs Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I do not think Ward was a huge loss (Average 3.6 yards per carry this year), the team was less committed to the run and less effective when they did decide to run it this season. I think the team going away from the run to the pass is a result of Eli becoming a better QB and Gil wanting to make him the focal point of the offense.... The offense did not exactly light it up the last two games either... a couple of garbage points late in a blow out. There's that...and the little issue of an offensive line thats not even half what it was just last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightFire Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Before going too crazy on the whole abandoning the run thing, keep in mind Gilbride's most effective back this year was carrying the ball with two bad ankles and at least one broken foot; the other main cog is going under arthroscopic knee surgery; a third spent a large chunk of the season with a dislocated elbow and a concussion; and his fullback had a shoulder injury going back to preseason. The rookie never made it out of pre-season. Our only healthy back was on another team's practice squad when the season started. There was only so much running those guys could do. If anything, Gilbride should be given credit for getting as much out of the offense as he did this year: a really depleted running game, injuries on the line, and receivers that were all first-time starters in the league. Exactly. It has to very demoralizing also for the O when the 3rd time you walk out onto the field it's 21-0 and the game is already out of reach. The O had the worst performances when the D completely shit the bed. Why even bother trying when your best effort isn't going to win the game anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueInCanada Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 It's hard to be a run first team when the teams your playing are putting up 40 points a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishgutmartyr Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Gilbride needs to go. Yes the offense played well this season and the defense was just a bunch of cocklicks. But Gilbride's problem is consistency. He is not a smart coach. One week the O is up, the next its abyssmal. And 'smart' OCs DO NOT FUCKING CALL A DRAW ON 3rd and 5 - MULTIPLE TIMES. Dipshit imbecile OCs do that. While the O has been quite good, its the sudden spurts of absolute idiocy that comes out of Gilbride that worries me. Get rid of both OC and DC and fucking Crennel and Weiss in here!! We had 6 games scoring 30+ points. We had 10 games (including the six games already mentioned) scoring 20+ points. Another 3 we scored 17 points, which a good defense will let you win a little less than half (and that's being generous to the defense). That's 13 games in which the offense scored enough points to at least be competitive in the game. Of the 3 where we didn't even make 10 pts, it was pretty obvious that morale nosedived in the last two games, especially since they knew they weren't going to get any help from the rest of the team, not to mention a nice chunk of the oline and backfield didn't even suit up for Minny. Consistency? Since 2007, we've averaged in the mid-20's every year, in the top-10 in the league. Time of possession, again in the top-10 in the league (although I should check that this year--I know we were ranked 8th after the Washington game). Pass-happy? We've been up there in rushing yards consistently as well, except for this year. That's not bad for a dipshit imbecile OC. And the dreaded 3rd and 5 draw play? You do realize that we've picked up plenty of first downs running that play in the past, right? And not just with Tiki. But again, if this happens, we'll find out. If it does, I hope you guys are right and Gilbride held this offense back. Otherwise, we're screwed. I'd rather be wrong and happy, than right and miserable. But I really don't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMFP Posted January 5, 2010 Author Share Posted January 5, 2010 I think Fassel is going to get that job. I wouldn't be surprised. The biggest difference between Fassel and Coughlin is that Coughlin won his Super Bowl appearance. This 2009 team had about as much "quit" in them as any team in recent memory - including the Fassel, Reeves, and shit, even the Handley years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treehugger Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 There's that...and the little issue of an offensive line thats not even half what it was just last year. This. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
so-cal dub Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Per SI's Don Banks,OC Kevin Gibride is a fav for the Raiders job if Tom Cable is fired. Reason being, his sucess developing Manning. #nyg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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