Raiders: Conspiracy Theories and Offseason Ramblings

This is my first article and it's basically a collection of general thoughts and observations from the offseason. I don't get very specific with the X's and O's —plenty of time for that later.

The position of Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders is a dance, the Al Davis tango. One must perform gracefully, yet decisively if they wish to continue. Gracefully meaning you must appease the boss and recognize his philosophical outlook on the game, never publicly appearing in opposition. And decisively meaning you must balance your duties to ownership with your duties to the players and assistant coaches—never allowing your leadership to appear compromised.

For the most part, Tom Cable has performed this dance admirably—bringing a cohesiveness and calm from the HC absent through all the years of losing. Yet despite mastering the dance, Tom Cable didn't have many wins to show for his work—so his job status was never secure.

And this is where Tom Cable's mastery of the dance continues, by convincing Al Davis that he could coach a winning team if he had the right personnel—which can only be interpreted as, get Jamarcus Russell off the team. So while Tom Cable successfully benched Al Davis' first round pick while controlling the offense—I think Davis needed to enact some influence on the team; call it diversifying the playbook, call it a power move, either way, it's being heraled as a great hire.

Hue Jackson, a California born, swagger bringing offensive guru who passed up an interview with the desperate Bears to join our desperate Raiders. Draped in recent success, he might be the spark Al Davis and the team need to get their mojo back. And while Tom Cable's exact job duties are open to interpretation, you can bet he'll be keeping the calm until he's told not to.

And yet even after the hiring of Jackson, there was still lingering pain in the back of my head, that ...

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