COOPER CARLISLE NOW A RAIDER
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Yeah, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that we'll either take McFadden or Dorsey with our first pick in the draft, but I'm leaning towards McFadden...and I doubt Kiffen will make it through the season without getting fired.
You know what would be funny? If Al picked someone out of a hat (or his ass, whichever's closer) to be the new coach...someone like Geraldo Rivera or Tom Cable. That'd be nuts...
You know what would be funny? If Al picked someone out of a hat (or his ass, whichever's closer) to be the new coach...someone like Geraldo Rivera or Tom Cable. That'd be nuts...
@Evidence... Well he was moved around quite often and had so many different coaches. One year he's right tackle, the next he's a left tackle... I am not making excuses but it is what it is. He's part of an offensive line that leads the league in rushing so that "busts" label should be removed. He's still playing, he's still starting, and the Raiders have been running the ball pretty well. So give Gallery credit for improving for himself as a player and his play has helped our team/offensive line improve. Gallery is not a "bust"! Give him some credit for hanging in there...
Huff is a disappointment, and has been to me since he was drafted. We needed players at many positions...and we take him? There were some very solid QB's we could have taken...and we take Michael Huff. And I guarantee if they hadn't won the championship that year (Texas), we wouldn't have drafted him.
The problem is, you cannot have confidence in something that hasn't been proven. I think Jamarcus needs room to grow, but Kiffen was taking him along slowly. Too slowly? That's a matter of opinion. But our running game was proving that it could compete, and do very well on a pretty consistant basis. Why not go with that, and let Russell come along slowly? If it aint broke, don't fix it, and, while the Raiders weren't a finished product, they were a work in progress, and there was progress. I look at the team this year, compared to last, and see a difference. And I especially see a difference between now and 2 years ago (Kiffen vs. Shell). The players believed in him, trusted him, played hard for him...just like you want to give Russell ''stability'' and ''confidence''...why shouldn't Kiffen get the same? Russell was a rookie in the NFL last year...so was Kiffen. If you want Russell to get a chance to prove himself, why would you be so quick to oust Kiffen? If Russell makes a mistake...it's part of the learning process. But Kiffen makes a mistake, and it's his job?
IMO, Kiffin made too many mistakes as a head coach. Yes, last year was his rookie year and so was JaMarcus' so both of them got a pass (even though I was on Kiffin since last year).
The bottom line is you coach to win games period! If you're not coaching to win games, Al ain't messin' with you. You won't win games in the NFL attempting to kick 76 yard field goals (with Cromartie back ready to return them) and leaving timeouts on the clock. "If it ain't broke don't fix it," I agree because in the K.C. game all we had to do was run the ball, they couldn't stop it. So why pass? There was no need! But against Buffalo, our running game wasn't working. They were daring us to throw it and we wouldn't. You gotta score points to win. You can't win games in the NFL only throwing the ball 3 times in one half (unless you're running game was working like ours was against K.C.). So you have to open up your offense and trust that your qb makes the right decisions with the ball (that's where confidence comes in). Yep, it's a growing process but you gotta crawl before you walk. When your dad took them training wheels off of your bike, you fell a few times but then you eventually got the hang of it and rode off....
That's the coaching approach Al wanted and expected but he didn't get it from Kiffin.
The bottom line is you coach to win games period! If you're not coaching to win games, Al ain't messin' with you. You won't win games in the NFL attempting to kick 76 yard field goals (with Cromartie back ready to return them) and leaving timeouts on the clock. "If it ain't broke don't fix it," I agree because in the K.C. game all we had to do was run the ball, they couldn't stop it. So why pass? There was no need! But against Buffalo, our running game wasn't working. They were daring us to throw it and we wouldn't. You gotta score points to win. You can't win games in the NFL only throwing the ball 3 times in one half (unless you're running game was working like ours was against K.C.). So you have to open up your offense and trust that your qb makes the right decisions with the ball (that's where confidence comes in). Yep, it's a growing process but you gotta crawl before you walk. When your dad took them training wheels off of your bike, you fell a few times but then you eventually got the hang of it and rode off....
That's the coaching approach Al wanted and expected but he didn't get it from Kiffin.
Check this article out fellaz:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/07/SP5313CD9E.DTL
Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Knapp has waited all his life for this moment. OK, so it has been only 20 games, but all those weeks without play-calling power sure felt like a forever or two.
"I love calling plays," Knapp said. "That's my chess game. That's my way to feel like I can help the team win and put the guys in the best position to win.
"It's my juices. It's how I get my juices flowing in the game."
Knapp's adrenaline is back in operation this week when the Raiders visit New Orleans. As soon as head coach Lane Kiffin was fired last week, Knapp was assigned play-picking duties to match the coordinator title he has held since last season.
Sure, interim head coach Tom Cable will give input during the week, and he'll get in the last word. Still, Cable said he's counting on Knapp to bring passing balance to a run-heavy offense during the Saints game and beyond.
"He's certainly excited about it," Cable said. "The nice thing is he's called a lot of big plays in a lot of big games ... when something big was really on the line. To have that experience there is going to be awesome."
When the 2004 Falcons reached the NFC Championship Game, Knapp was shepherding the offense. When the 49ers made the playoffs in 2001 and '02, Knapp was barking plays into the quarterback's radio.
The Raiders hired him to be their offensive coordinator last year, only to sit him in the booth. Kiffin - a first-time head coach who was co-offensive coordinator at USC - called the shots from field-side.
Knapp hadn't stood by like that since he was the 49ers' quarterbacks coach in 2000. How the game-day idleness didn't make his temple vein burst, no one knows.
"It was different," Knapp said. "It took me, I'll be honest with you, about four (or) five games last year to finally just chill and not get uptight. The fact I was upstairs last year, it was a little bit harder. I was always so into it on the field.
"This year, being down on the field again, it at least took some of the edge off me because I was at least able to see the quarterback in the eyes and help give little reminders in the headset."
Now, he gets to talk directly into JaMarcus Russell's earhole. Those expecting Knapp to turn Russell into a downfield throwing machine, well, not so fast.
Knapp's offenses led the NFL in rushing from 2004 through '06 and were top-six the three years before that. Only once has he directed a top-10 passing offense.
Cable doesn't expect Knapp to go all vertical, but there won't be a repeat of the second half at Buffalo - when the Raiders threw three times in a 24-23 loss.
Cable's thinking something closer to what the Falcons did in 2006, when he was the offensive line coach and Knapp was the offensive coordinator. The run-pass ratio was 53-to-47.
"He's very good at what he does, so there's no issue there," Cable said. "We went through a year together and he's calling plays, and in between series, we talk about the next series of runs, how I want to do this and set this up, and he would do it.
"I really feel like that's a dynamic that's in place, and we can really go after it together."
Right now, the Raiders have 130 rushes to 99 pass attempts. No wide receivers have more than five catches in four games. Knapp's job, Cable said, is to throw to score points and build leads for the run game to protect in the fourth quarter. He wants the run-versus-pass line to be 50-50, if possible.
At this point, Knapp is glad to do anything other than sit silently.
"Always," Knapp said. "I really do have a passion for it."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/07/SP5313CD9E.DTL
Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Knapp has waited all his life for this moment. OK, so it has been only 20 games, but all those weeks without play-calling power sure felt like a forever or two.
"I love calling plays," Knapp said. "That's my chess game. That's my way to feel like I can help the team win and put the guys in the best position to win.
"It's my juices. It's how I get my juices flowing in the game."
Knapp's adrenaline is back in operation this week when the Raiders visit New Orleans. As soon as head coach Lane Kiffin was fired last week, Knapp was assigned play-picking duties to match the coordinator title he has held since last season.
Sure, interim head coach Tom Cable will give input during the week, and he'll get in the last word. Still, Cable said he's counting on Knapp to bring passing balance to a run-heavy offense during the Saints game and beyond.
"He's certainly excited about it," Cable said. "The nice thing is he's called a lot of big plays in a lot of big games ... when something big was really on the line. To have that experience there is going to be awesome."
When the 2004 Falcons reached the NFC Championship Game, Knapp was shepherding the offense. When the 49ers made the playoffs in 2001 and '02, Knapp was barking plays into the quarterback's radio.
The Raiders hired him to be their offensive coordinator last year, only to sit him in the booth. Kiffin - a first-time head coach who was co-offensive coordinator at USC - called the shots from field-side.
Knapp hadn't stood by like that since he was the 49ers' quarterbacks coach in 2000. How the game-day idleness didn't make his temple vein burst, no one knows.
"It was different," Knapp said. "It took me, I'll be honest with you, about four (or) five games last year to finally just chill and not get uptight. The fact I was upstairs last year, it was a little bit harder. I was always so into it on the field.
"This year, being down on the field again, it at least took some of the edge off me because I was at least able to see the quarterback in the eyes and help give little reminders in the headset."
Now, he gets to talk directly into JaMarcus Russell's earhole. Those expecting Knapp to turn Russell into a downfield throwing machine, well, not so fast.
Knapp's offenses led the NFL in rushing from 2004 through '06 and were top-six the three years before that. Only once has he directed a top-10 passing offense.
Cable doesn't expect Knapp to go all vertical, but there won't be a repeat of the second half at Buffalo - when the Raiders threw three times in a 24-23 loss.
Cable's thinking something closer to what the Falcons did in 2006, when he was the offensive line coach and Knapp was the offensive coordinator. The run-pass ratio was 53-to-47.
"He's very good at what he does, so there's no issue there," Cable said. "We went through a year together and he's calling plays, and in between series, we talk about the next series of runs, how I want to do this and set this up, and he would do it.
"I really feel like that's a dynamic that's in place, and we can really go after it together."
Right now, the Raiders have 130 rushes to 99 pass attempts. No wide receivers have more than five catches in four games. Knapp's job, Cable said, is to throw to score points and build leads for the run game to protect in the fourth quarter. He wants the run-versus-pass line to be 50-50, if possible.
At this point, Knapp is glad to do anything other than sit silently.
"Always," Knapp said. "I really do have a passion for it."