Raiders Of The Lost Crazy
ECLECTIC NFL OWNER HIRES 31-YEAR OLD TO COACH STORIED FRANCHISE
FITSNews – January 24, 2007 - The Oakland Raiders are like the Dirty Harry of pro football. They are the tough guys, the enforcers, the heavies you don’t want to see in a deserted alley late at night.
It’s an image that controversial owner Al Davis loves, but it’s one that has pretty much vanished lately as his teams have gone an abysmal 15-49 since losing Super Bowl XXXVII to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers four years ago.
Enter 31-year old Lane Kiffin, who was named head coach of the storied franchise yesterday.
Kiffin was offensive coordinator under Pete Carroll at Southern California, where he coached such future NFL stars as Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. He is already promising to bring a high-octane offensive attack to the Bay Area.
But how effective will Kiffin – the youngest head coach in NFL history – be at turning around a franchise that posted an NFL-worst 2-14 record last year?
Some view Kiffin’s hiring as a good thing – an infusion of youth in a franchise that has thrived whenever youthful coaches were placed at its helm (John Madden, John Gruden, Mike Shanahan, Davis himself). Others claim that Kiffin was only hired because more established coaching prospects were leery of accepting the Raiders’ job given Davis’ notorious meddling.
Where the Raiders go from here will be determined in large part by who they select with the No. 1 pick in this coming April’s 2007 NFL Draft. The franchise desperately needs a quarterback and Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn and LSU’s JeMarcus Russell are both available.
