Tom Cable Axed In Oakland, Is It Hue Jacksons Turn Or Do Raiders Look Elsewhere?

The Oakland Raiders made it official Tuesday evening: Tom Cable is no longer the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. For the first time since the Raiders were demolished in the Super Bowl by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Raider fans finally felt like the team was headed in the right direction. The offense was looking better than it had in years, the defense looked like it would grow to be one of the best in the league, and the Raiders dominated the AFC West. However, it appears as though the lack of a playoff birth doomed Tom Cable.

If you will recall, when Lane Kiffen was fired, Al Davis made the comment that the team was good enough to make the playoffs and was underachieving under Kiffen. One has to assume that similar logic was relied on in the firing of Cable. While many Raiders fans see the fact that the Raiders were one or two wins away from the playoffs as a major step in the right direction, Al Davis sees it as unacceptable given the talent currently on the roster.

Regardless of whether or not Al Davis was right for firing Tom Cable, he made the choice to release him in good faith. Now it is time to look forward and discuss who the next head coach of the Oakland Raiders will be.

Given the timing of the announcement, I could not help but hope that Jim Harbaugh is a serious candidate (Tom Cable was fired only one day after Harbaugh's season with Stanford officially ended). Its been pretty clear from the Harbaugh camp that if he leaves Stanford, it will only be for an NFL team, and only for the right one. Many scoff at the idea of Harbaugh coming to coach for the Raiders because he will likely be able to choose from any of the current head coaching vacancies in the NFL. However, it makes decent sense that the Raiders would be on his short list.

Harbaugh's only NFL experience came with the Raiders as an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach. Additionally, it has been said that Harbaugh and Raiders owner Al Davis g...