?Raider Head Coach? Steve Sarkisian?

[poptart]

Sarkisian closes in

Posted by Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer on Saturday at 8:57 pm

At some point in the near future, possibly this week, expect Steve Sarkisian to be named head coach of the Oakland Raiders.

Call it educated speculation, which is better than an outright guess, but something less than an a multi-sourced news story stripped across the top of a sports page.

Sarkisian did so well in his interview Monday one league source told me he thought Al Davis offered him the job then and there, although he also told me I'd better check it out before going with it.

Another source has told me on two separate occasions this week Sarkisian was the leading candidate, after both the Jim Fassel and Rob Ryan interviews.

Neither of these sources have spoken directly to Davis, but their information is usually reliable.

Sarkisian, in recent days, has gone underground. There are people I've talked to in Southern California who rarely have a problem reaching him, but now can't get him to return a phone call.

Open and chatty following his interview Monday with Medianews reporter Steve Corkran, Sarkisian is now unavailable.

Call me overly cynical, but it sounds to me like Sarkisian is acting in a way befitting a coach of the Oakland Raiders. Someone told him to zip it regarding his candidacy. He may have even been told to save it all for his press conference.

I'm sure you'll all let me know if and when I'm wrong.

In theory, and in accordance with the league's "Rooney Rule,'' the Raiders are required at least one personal interview with a minority candidate.

You wonder how Davis feels about this. I'm guessing Davis is wondering who in the hell would ever have the nerve to demand that he interview a minority candidate. You can question and criticize Davis on many issues, but this is not one of them.

If the rest of the ownership was as enlightened as Davis in terms of minority hires, there wouldn't be any need for a "Rooney Rule.''

I did a lengthy story on former Raider Art Powell in training camp, detailing stands Powell took on Civil Rights issues, refusing to play in games in the deep south during the 1960s.

Powell got cut from the Philadelphia Eagles because he wouldn't stay in a hotel separate from his white teammates in Virginia. He refused to play in preseason games in the deep South in the American Football League.

Powell had run-ins with coaches and the white establishment. But Powell said Davis told him, "Don't let people try and put it in your head that you should change. There's nothing wrong with you.''

Davis said this in the 1960s, when it wasn't trendy or politically correct.

So for the league to insist Davis interview a minority candidate when he may have already decided on someone else is, well, a joke. Putting a coach through a dog-and-pony show interview when that candidate has no chance to get the job isn't fair to Davis or the candidate.

There were no rules when Davis drafted Eldridge Dickey, a black quarterback out of Tennessee State, in the first round of the 1968 draft. There was, in fact, an unwritten rule of sorts that blacks couldn't play quarterback.

There weren't any rules in place when Davis hired Shell, or the first Hispanic head coach in Tom Flores.

If Davis wants Sarkisian, I wouldnt blame him if he simply hired him and then dared the NFL to fine him. It's not like he hasn't fought the league before.

--------------------------------

Pro's & Con's


Pro's
Outsider
Bright offensive mind
Impressive success with college QB's (Palmer, Lienart)
Good communicator, organizer, & motivator -- allegedly
Knows the Raiders ('dud qb coach in '04)


Con's
Age:32
Has never even been a coordinator (let alone head coach) at the college level, and certainly not in the NFL
Very little NFL experience


If he's THE guy it's a pretty bold move by Al.
Say what you will about Davis, but his track record shows that he HAS had a very keen eye for excellent young coaching talent.
Madden, Rat, Gruden, Payton (although he couldn't close the deal)
Sarkisian is next young 'star' coach ... ?
If he's not too young, he might be.

I remember how Rat failed in Oakland.
He was a talented young coach, but Davis gave him the gig before he was really ready for it.
I'd hate to see the same thing play out with this Sarkisian 'kid'.

Then again, he might be the kind of kick in the pants that this team is desperately in need of.
A fresh, bright, modern jolt of energy from the outside.

I can't say I'm totally down with the hire .... if it DOES happen, but to me it beats the shit out of retread hiring like Fassel, Green or Martz (to a lesser extent).
Martz might actually get something going in Oakland, but I think an inevitable butting of heads with Al would take place.
I'm also not one who's high on Son of Buddy taking over as head coach.
The players WANT him, and that is a big red flag to me.
Keep Ryan at DC where he's been effective of late.
Sure, he may bolt next year if he could manage to land a head coaching job somewhere, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.


32 yr old kid coach Steve Sarkisian .... ?

What do you think, Nation .... ?

[socal]

Bring back Shanahan. Now that would be a bold move.

[The Assassin]

I think its rather interesting that no other team or college has taken an interest in this guy.

[Mississippi Neck]

I think its rather interesting that no other team or college has taken an interest in this guy.

Which is probably why he's dumb enuff to take the Raider job.

[Adelpiero]

I think its rather interesting that no other team or college has taken an interest in this guy.

Which is probably why he's dumb enuff to take the Raider job.

for the $$$$ and putting it on your resume, why the fuck not.


you can always say,"al wouldnt allow me to work, and do what i wanted to win", after your fired to get another hc gig in college. it works out for him, not against.

[drummer]

I can't say I'm totally down with the hire .... if it DOES happen, but to me it beats the shit out of retread hiring like Fassel, Green or Martz (to a lesser extent).

Come on now pops. Like Assassin said, Sarkisian isn't on the hot list of other teams that need an HC. He is an assistant in a college program. What kind of offense is he gonna bring? Who, outside of Ryan, are gonna be his assistants? What is he gonna do on draft day?

You can answer all those questions with just one name: Davis. He is the one who will force the offensive playbook on Sarkisian. Davis will be the one who chooses his assistants. Davis will be the one running the draft War room.

That choice of HC isn't out of desperation, or even exasperation, to win games. It reeks of arrogance.

[Raydah James]

I can't say I'm totally down with the hire .... if it DOES happen, but to me it beats the shit out of retread hiring like Fassel, Green or Martz (to a lesser extent).

Come on now pops. Like Assassin said, Sarkisian isn't on the hot list of other teams that need an HC. He is an assistant in a college program. What kind of offense is he gonna bring? Who, outside of Ryan, are gonna be his assistants? What is he gonna do on draft day?

You can answer all those questions with just one name: Davis. He is the one who will force the offensive playbook on Sarkisian. Davis will be the one who chooses his assistants. Davis will be the one running the draft War room.

That choice of HC isn't out of desperation, or even exasperation, to win games. It reeks of arrogance.

What exactly does Davis have to be arrogant about again?


2-14. With his hand built squad.


Besides '02, he hasnt won dick in 22 years.

......and that was mostly due to Rich Gannon being maddeningly detail oriented and an incredible leader and who got in motherfuckers faces (Including the O coordinator)


Take rich out of the equation, and this team has been a fucking doormat for 20+ years.


I wish the old cunt could see how my generation laughs at his pathetic ineptitude and brings his name up only to throw down a sweet depends/jurassic park blast.


Fuck that pathetic old tard-he's nothing more than a fucking joke.


RACK his impending death.

[The Assassin]

in accordance with the league's "Rooney Rule,'' the Raiders are required at least one personal interview with a minority candidate.

I heard Art Shell isn't doing anything these days.

He didnt do anything last season either.

[Mississippi Neck]

in accordance with the league's "Rooney Rule,'' the Raiders are required at least one personal interview with a minority candidate.

I heard Art Shell isn't doing anything these days.

I hear Dennis Green is available.

[drummer]

I posted in another thread about a combo of Fassel and Alex Gibbs. That would make more sense than Sarkisian.

[poptart]

I think its rather interesting that no other team or college has taken an interest in this guy.

Because Al is ahead of everyone else .... ?

Laugh ... yes, I hear you.

Hey, Madden, Shanahan and Gruden were all elevated by Davis BEFORE interest got white hot for them.

I'm not saying that Sarkisian is going to be an excellent young coach.
I mean, how would I know ??
I'm just saying that based on Al's track record I think one would be wise to at least entertain the possibility.

[Mississippi Neck]

I agree. Other teams should take note of this Sarkisian guy. Who knows .. he could be the next coach to leave the Raiders and win a Super Bowl for someone else like Shanahan and Gruden.

[poptart]

Or then again, he might end up being ..... Dave Campo.
Another possibility.

At least Al has the good sense to pull the fucking plug on his coaching whiffffs.

How coconut head held on to an NFL head coaching job for THREE years is one of the greatest mysteries of all-time.

[Mister Bushice]

He's never been a head coach. He's barely even coached.

Sounds like a perfect fit for the raiders. Ought to be able to handle those team head cases well.

How much do pro players respect college coaches with Zero pedigree, any way?

This is much more a case of no decent available coach is going near that shit job, at least not until after ALs death rattle, than it is this guy sneaking in under everyone elses radar.

[Mississippi Neck]

Or then again, he might end up being ..... Dave Campo.
Another possibility.

At least Al has the good sense to pull the fucking plug on his coaching whiffffs.

How coconut head held on to an NFL head coaching job for THREE years is one of the greatest mysteries of all-time.

For your sake I hope he's not a Campo. Worst coach Ive seen in quite a while

[Cicero]

He should stick around at USC and be Carroll's replacement 5 years from now. He will make a great coach one day but I think the Raider Job at the age of 32 is a little too soon.

[poptart]

That's exactly my fear, Cicero.

That he'll be a good one, but Davis is elevating him before he's ready.
IF he gets the job, of course.

Fact of the matter is that Al doesn't have a real wide pool of potential head coaches to fish from, hence a guy like Sark may be in the right place at the right time.

Accounts I've read are that he REALLY wants the job.

I also fear that if Sark gets the job and he does well, he'll merely use it as a stepping stone -- as Gruden did.

[drummer]

I can't say I'm totally down with the hire .... if it DOES happen, but to me it beats the shit out of retread hiring like Fassel, Green or Martz (to a lesser extent).

Come on now pops. Like Assassin said, Sarkisian isn't on the hot list of other teams that need an HC. He is an assistant in a college program. What kind of offense is he gonna bring? Who, outside of Ryan, are gonna be his assistants? What is he gonna do on draft day?

You can answer all those questions with just one name: Davis. He is the one who will force the offensive playbook on Sarkisian. Davis will be the one who chooses his assistants. Davis will be the one running the draft War room.

That choice of HC isn't out of desperation, or even exasperation, to win games. It reeks of arrogance.

What exactly does Davis have to be arrogant about again?


2-14. With his hand built squad.


Besides '02, he hasnt won dick in 22 years.

......and that was mostly due to Rich Gannon being maddeningly detail oriented and an incredible leader and who got in motherfuckers faces (Including the O coordinator)


Take rich out of the equation, and this team has been a fucking doormat for 20+ years.


I wish the old cunt could see how my generation laughs at his pathetic ineptitude and brings his name up only to throw down a sweet depends/jurassic park blast.


Fuck that pathetic old tard-he's nothing more than a fucking joke.


RACK his impending death.

I read and heard reports of Gannon being an absolute red ass in the locker room. I think Gannon would have kicked Moss' ass for his attitude, but I think Moss would have responded to Gannon's leadership.

That's where the real problem lies. Sapp didn't say shit about Moss until the last 3 games of the season. Sapp going mute on a player who is quit on his team halfway through the season, maybe even earlier than that?

That tells me Davis pushed the mute button on players talking about Moss, even though Moss shot his fukken mouth off.

One thing about Gannon: he ran the WCO about as efficient as any QB outside of Montana or Young, and even Garcia. Steve Young called the Raiders of that period " The 49ers East" . He really admired how the Duhs ran the offense, especially with Garner, who left the 49ers prior to joining the Duhs. Rice was rejuvenated when he went cross Bay, and I remember he putting on a show one game, with Gannon hitting him in stride, and the offense was really dynamic. Good stuff.

Sarkisian would be a disaster there. I mean, there are better choices, but Davis is too cheap, too paranoid, and too fukken stubborn to hire anybody who would become the next star HC. Hell, didn't he prove that with hiring Shell?

edit: too add, Steve Young was so impressed by the Duhs offense that he joked about coming back in an interview on KNBR, so he could play in it.

edit to add even more: How about bringing in Marty Morenwheig, Garcia, and Alex Gibbs, for a quick fix? Would that make more sense than Sarkisian?

[drummer]

I can't say I'm totally down with the hire .... if it DOES happen, but to me it beats the shit out of retread hiring like Fassel, Green or Martz (to a lesser extent).

Come on now pops. Like Assassin said, Sarkisian isn't on the hot list of other teams that need an HC. He is an assistant in a college program. What kind of offense is he gonna bring? Who, outside of Ryan, are gonna be his assistants? What is he gonna do on draft day?

You can answer all those questions with just one name: Davis. He is the one who will force the offensive playbook on Sarkisian. Davis will be the one who chooses his assistants. Davis will be the one running the draft War room.

That choice of HC isn't out of desperation, or even exasperation, to win games. It reeks of arrogance.

What exactly does Davis have to be arrogant about again?


2-14. With his hand built squad.


Besides '02, he hasnt won dick in 22 years.

......and that was mostly due to Rich Gannon being maddeningly detail oriented and an incredible leader and who got in motherfuckers faces (Including the O coordinator)


Take rich out of the equation, and this team has been a fucking doormat for 20+ years.


I wish the old cunt could see how my generation laughs at his pathetic ineptitude and brings his name up only to throw down a sweet depends/jurassic park blast.


Fuck that pathetic old tard-he's nothing more than a fucking joke.


RACK his impending death.

I read and heard reports of Gannon being an absolute red ass in the locker room. I think Gannon would have kicked Moss' ass for his attitude, but I think Moss would have responded to Gannon's leadership.

That's where the real problem lies. Sapp didn't say shit about Moss until the last 3 games of the season. Sapp going mute on a player who is quit on his team halfway through the season, maybe even earlier than that?

That tells me Davis pushed the mute button on players talking about Moss, even though Moss shot his fukken mouth off.

One thing about Gannon: he ran the WCO about as efficient as any QB outside of Montana or Young, and even Garcia. Steve Young called the Raiders of that period " The 49ers East" . He really admired how the Duhs ran the offense, especially with Garner, who left the 49ers prior to joining the Duhs. Rice was rejuvenated when he went cross Bay, and I remember he putting on a show one game, with Gannon hitting him in stride, and the offense was really dynamic. Good stuff.

Sarkisian would be a disaster there. I mean, there are better choices, but Davis is too cheap, too paranoid, and too fukken stubborn to hire anybody who would become the next star HC. Hell, didn't he prove that with hiring Shell?

edit: too add, Steve Young was so impressed by the Duhs offense that he joked about coming back in an interview on KNBR, so he could play in it.

edit to add even more: How about bringing in Marty Morenwheig, Garcia, and Alex Gibbs, for a quick fix? Would that make more sense than Sarkisian? Drafting Quinn with that combo, instead of Russell?

Just a thought.

[Mile-Hi T]

When is Al going to let himself coach the team?... or can't you coach from a suede lined coffin?

[drummer]

When is Al going to let himself coach the team?... or can't you coach from a suede lined coffin?

Davis already is coaching from his hyperbaric chamber. The problem is, he lives inside that chamber, while he is burying his franchise six feet under.

Morenwhieg, Garcia, Gibbs, and Quinn. Along with Ryan, there is your next wave of success, right there.

Garcia tutors Quinn in the WCO, Gibbs fixes the shit O-line, and you see what MM did with the Iggles, after McNabb went down.

To hell with MM's record in DET. Nobody can fix that abortion.

Gibbs is fukken nails in the WCO. He is like the late Bob McKittrick, who Howie Long chased down the tunnel once, yelling at him for his blocking scheme, yelling at him for the cut blocks. Walsh''s, Holmgren's, and Shanny's success was due in large part to McKittrick.The 49ers ran perfect sweeps with BM.

Gibbs was nails in Denver. Look at ATL's #s in the run game, as well as Denvers, when he was there.

Anyway, that's how I would fix the Raiders, along with re-hiring Ron Wolf.

[Mile-Hi T]

Alex Gibbs is a freakin' man! There are stories about him challenging players to hit him.

I think he would be a GREAT head coach...but not Oakland. First of all, he HATES the raidahs. Second, I really don't think he wants a head coaching job.

And wasn't it you raidah fans who called his techniques "dirty"? Why would you want him now?
My guess is that you want another Alzado or Romonowski.

[drummer]

Alex Gibbs is a freakin' man! There are stories about him challenging players to hit him.

I think he would be a GREAT head coach...but not Oakland. First of all, he HATES the raidahs. Second, I really don't think he wants a head coaching job.

And wasn't it you raidah fans who called his techniques "dirty"? Why would you want him now?
My guess is that you want another Alzado or Romonowski.

That's what I mean about the parallels between Gibbs and McKittirck . McKittirick was an ex Marine. Nobody fucked with him. He coached the line while he was suffering from cancer, almost all the way to his death. He stood up to Howie Long. But, he also knew how to scheme. He was disappointed that the 49ers never made him OC. He knew the WCO like the back of his hand. He is a big part of it's success.

The 49er offense was awesome when he coached there. Shanny could call any play, and they could execute it beautifully, like a ballet choreographer can, with guys that could kill you. There 49er offense was never the same after he left.

God Bless McKittrick.

edit, Long was pissed at McKittrick because of thought the 49ers were Leg Whipping him.

[Mile-Hi T]

It all sounds too perfect...That is exactly why "the deceased" wont hire him.

My guess is that he will draft Brady Quinn as Head Coach.

Good news is that you will probably win a few more games than this year.

[drummer]

It all sounds too perfect...That is exactly why "the deceased" wont hire him.

My guess is that he will draft Brady Quinn as Head Coach.

Good news is that you probably win a few more games than this year.

I'm a 49er fan, if you missed it.

I always thought they should have kept Shanny over Seifert.

But again, when BM died, the 49ers we knew of died with him.

[Mile-Hi T]

Honestly, you can have Shannahan back if you want him. Give him one more year to help Cutler, and then he can go to hell.

The two biggest mistakes the Broncos ever made were to let Gibbs go and to let Gary Kubiak go. I blame Shanny for all of it! Fuckin' control freak!