What Really Lead To Hue Jackson’s Firing?

 Posted by at 4:54 PM  5 Responses »
Jan 112012
 

Allow me for a moment to walk the Raider Nation through a timeline of Hue Jackson’s tenure with the Raiders.

2010

Al Davis hires Hue Jackson to revamp an offense that hadn’t been good in many years. With the aide of competent quarterback play and a healthy Darren McFadden, Jackson is wildly successful in his first year.

2011

Tom Cable is fired for an 8-8 season and Hue Jackson is promoted to Head Coach.

Situation

He is working with a roster constructed by Al Davis and defensive coaches hired by Al Davis.

October 8, 2011

Al Davis dies and Hue Jackson is forced to take a more active role in managing player personnel because-although unqualified-he is the most qualified person in the building. Mark Davis begins to gather his advisory team or John Madden, Ron Wolf and Ken Herock.

Problem 1

Hue Jackson loses his starting quarterback to injury for the season. Jackson knows with the passing of Al Davis that a new front office would be coming in and in all likelihood he would be fired if he didn’t make the playoffs and maybe he would even need to win a playoff game to keep his job.

Solution 1

Trade for Carson Palmer. Hue Jackson was looking out for himself, knowing that he had little chance of making a playoff run with Kyle Boller and knowing a losing record would mean he would be fired. Hue Jackson pressures Mark Davis to make a lopsided trade for the only decent quarterback available. Hue’s ego and power begin to grow within the organization and some question wether that is a good thing.

Problem 2

Hue Jackson and the Raiders lose the most explosive offensive weapon on the team for an extended period of time, Darren McFadden.

Solution 2

Ride Michael Bush and get the young receivers more involved in the offense.

Problem 3

Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore injured.

Solution 3

No good solution can be found as the Raiders continue to ride Michael Bush and Darrius Heyward-Bey. Meanwhile, John Madden, Ron Wolf, Ken Herock and Tom Flores are advising Mark Davis to interview Reggie McKenzie when the season ends. Mark’s advisors are telling him to be cautious about Hue Jackson’s ego and power grab within the organization.

Problem 4

Defensive secondary not playing well.

Solution 4

Hue crossed his fingers that Chuck Bresnahan, without the constant supervision of Al Davis, can turn the Raiders defense into something resembling a solid unit. Turns out to be a non-solution and one Hue Jackson can’t directly change.

Week 17

Hue Jackson heads into the final week of the season 8-7 after another epic defensive failure that he has little control over. His team has an outside chance to make the playoffs.

Hue Jackson, knowing his fate was now in limbo, his defensive coordinator incompetent and his team with a slim chance to make the playoffs, walks into Mark Davis’ office and asks for input on the General Manager hire as a last ditch effort to try to save his job. One he might have saved had he never walked though Mark’s office door.

Hue Jackson was acting in self-preservation and Mark Davis wisely refuses to grant Hue’s request. It was a slightly absurd request to begin with, allowing a head coach to have input in who is hired as his boss, but Mark Davis also viewed this as another Hue Jackson power grab. Mark Davis had been warned by his advisors to be careful regarding Hue Jackson’s ego and power aspirations.

The Raiders lose in week 17 and Hue Jackson voices his frustrations with the team and his lack of input on the general manager hiring process in his final two press conferences and in-so doing seals his fate with the Raiders. Mark Davis and his advisors collectively grumble at Hue’s final act and finishing the season 1-4 does not help Hue’s case, no matter how little he had to do with the collapse.

Reggie McKenzie is interviewed and Mark Davis and John Madden give McKenzie the impression that firing Hue Jackson and starting fresh is the best course of action. That makes things easier for McKenzie, because he likely desired the ability to hire his own guy, but would have considered keeping Hue around if Mark Davis had requested it. McKenzie gets a clean start instead of delaying the inevitable firing of Hue Jackson to hire his own coach.

The decision was made to start fresh under McKenzie. It is naïve to think that either Mark Davis or Reggie McKenzie made the decision to fire Jackson on their own. It was a collective decision and ultimately it was a series of events that went against Hue Jackson. Jackson is still a good coach and will land on his feet somewhere. His defense, his ego and his act of self-preservation ended his short tenure with the Raiders. The Raiders will be better for it and Hue Jackson will be a better coach for it.

Hue-yuck!

 Posted by at 10:33 PM  9 Responses »
Nov 062011
 

Hue Jackson essentially benched Darrius Heyward-Bey, the team’s most productive receiver, in favor freshly signed T.J. Houshmandzadeh and rookie Denarius Moore. Moore’s production has dipped since taking over punt return duties and was targeted on three of the six interceptions against the Chiefs and another one Sunday against the Broncos. Benching a guy just starting to get confidence is terrible mistake if he is to be part of the Raiders future. Al Davis wouldn’t have let this happen and by pulling this move Jackson is essentially urinating on whatever legacy Al Davis left behind.

Houshmandzadeh hasn’t played a down in months and he gets more action than your top receiver? Palmer is paid to throw the receivers on the roster. Houshmandzadeh was not a terrible sign, but it’s subtraction by addition if he plays more than your top receiver. The only valid reason to bench Heyward-Bey was for discipline reasons. By all accounts Heyward-Bey is a model teammate.

Jackson has no one to contest his authority and the rookie head coach is full of himself. He is accountable to no one on the moves he makes. He has more power than any coach in the league right now. Carson Palmer, Houshmandzadeh, and Aaron Curry moves are prime examples. Quickly out were Al Davis’ pet projects on defense Joe Porter and Bruce Davis Jr. Louis Murphy has been shoved aside and now Heyward-Bey. When does someone chew Hue Jackson out? Even a good CEO has to answer to the board of directors. Jackson will soon be answering to boos of the home crowd.

Kevin Boss. Not the boss lately. He’s not starting and hardly playing. Why would you throw all kinds of money at a tight end and then not use him when the team is trying to break in a new starting quarterback? It doesn’t make a lot of sense for Hue Jackson to turn to Brandon Myers over Kevin Boss, yet that’s what he is doing. Boss needs to be more involved going forward.

From too cute to too conservative. Jackson gets predictable the offensive series after a turnover. Never would he have given Jason Campbell the ability to audible as much as Palmer did on Sunday, so the excuse that he was easing Palmer into the offense rings hollow.  Run, run, incomplete pass, punt after the second interception. Carson Palmer made a few laser throws that saved the Raiders and Jackson’s play calling on more than one occasion. Why not go for it on fourth and one with the game on the line? Do you not have faith in your offensive line and Michael Bush? Hue punted and turned the ball over to his defense. The defense keeps letting him down.

That brings us to Chuck Bresnahan. Read option. The team swears they practiced to stop it all week. Bresnahan couldn’t get his players to execute his game plan or the plan to stop a college offensive scheme was terrible. Either issue reflects poorly on Bresnahan’s skill as a defensive coordinator. This wasn’t the Patriots offense. This was Tim Tebow. The Raiders continue to get exposed on defense against the run and pass. The Raiders couldn’t stop Tebow and let him get the edge on multiple occasions. The secondary seems lost in zone coverage and blown assignments resulted in two touchdown passes. The Broncos rushed for some ungodly amount of yards because the linebackers didn’t fill the right holes. It’s pathetic how many points the Raiders are allowing. The Raiders have the players to be way better than they have been on defense.

Mental penalties. Hue Jackson swears he is focusing on getting the penalty issue fixed, but it is getting ridiculous how many stupid penalties the Raiders are committing. The problem is particularly bad on defense. The message is not getting through. It’s a culture problem. Hue’s needs to hold players accountable, but his discipline is either non-existent, toothless or the players don’t have respect for him. It doesn’t really matter which problem, they are all cause of great concern. Hue himself is not being held accountable for two pathetic losses to division teams at home in front of sold out crowds and it’s about time someone tore into Hue Jackson.

Richard Seymour continues to be the biggest offender when it comes to mental penalties and yet remains a team captain. Jackson has allowed Seymour’s mentality to rub off on the rest of the team. While some if this is a good thing, the bad has also made itself known in terms on mental penalties. Hue’s mistake is allowing Seymour to remain a captain when he isn’t acting like one. At very least the Hue Jackson needs make an example of Seymour. Stripping him of his captain title wouldn’t be a bad idea if he doesn’t respond. We should probably already be to that point.

Special teams have saved the Raiders a few times, but not lately. Punt coverage has been terrible and Denarius Moore hasn’t a clue how to return a punt. Penalties finding their way into this unit as well. John Fassel isn’t getting the job done. How many years do we blame poor special teams on the players and not the coach?

Al Davis liked a football team that played with aggression, but does a face-mask penalty when the player is stacked up or a late push out-of-bounds or slamming a quarterback to the ground, or tossing a ball into the air or running into the punter help you win the game? Certainly not. That’s a recipe to Just Lose, Baby! and that’s just what Hue Jackson has done since Al Davis passed away.

The rookie coach may have made the right moves while playing GM, but he’s doing so at the detriment of learning how to coach a winning team. Fix the penalties Hue and get rid of the deadbeat coaches before Mark Davis and Amy Trask start thinking the problem is you.

Always interesting in Oakland

 Posted by at 7:30 AM  No Responses »
Oct 212011
 

This year has been very interesting in Oakland.

On October 8, Al Davis passed away. The entire sports world focused on the life and accomplishments of Al Davis and the Raiders. The next day the Raiders responded with a win on the road against a quality opponent. Football fans everywhere will remember how the Raiders sealed the victory with only 10 defenders.

This week, the football world almost lost their minds when the Raiders pulled a Mike Ditka and gave up big time draft picks for one player, Carson Palmer. The trade showed Hue Jackson’s commitment to winning now. Good receivers rely on great quarterbacks to become great and once Palmer gets his legs under him, the sky is the limit for the Raiders young receiving corps.

Last week against the Browns, the Raider turned some heads when newly acquired Aaron Curry started after one practice. The Raiders then held Cleveland’s offense to 65 rushing yards and for the first time this season the Raiders defense held the opponent under 300 total yards. Gone was the Raiders linebacker problem. No doubt, Hue Jackson’s living on the edge mentality and play calling has rubbed off on defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan. Mixing up coverage packages and using exotic blitzes is exactly what the Raiders defense needed. When the secondary becomes healthy, the Raiders defense will be one of the league’s best.

For the first time since 2000, in the hay day of Tyrone Wheatley and Tim Brown, the Raiders have a good chance of boasting both a 1,000 yard rusher and a 1,000 yard receiver. A feat accomplished only seven times in the history of the Raiders. As it stands Darren McFadden leads the NFL in rushing with 610 yards, over a 100 yards per game average. Darrius Hayward-Bey has 345 yards a 57 yard per game average, but over the last three games DHB has 296 yards, nearly an 100 yard per game average. With a couple more 100 yard games, DHB will likely hit 1,000 yards. Hue Jackson is a varied and risky play caller so DHB and DMC have a great chance to make Raider history.

For years Al Davis made Oakland interesting. It may have been Davis’ infatuation with the vertical passing game, acquiring castoffs, resurrecting careers, benching star players, lawsuits, relocation, more lawsuits, intimidating opponents, cheating or simply winning superbowls. Even during times of irrelevancy, the Raiders remained interesting. For decades, the Oakland Raiders have been anything but boring.

In America’s favorite sport, there is no team quite like the Raiders. For decades NFL people around the nation, have said “The NFL is better when the Raiders are good.”

Weeks 6-10: Believe In Silver and Black

 Posted by at 1:00 PM  2 Responses »
Oct 142011
 

Anyone who watched the game against the Texans last Saturday knows that it was possibly the ugliest win a team could have. It really was like Mr. Davis was working some miracle to control the scoreboard. Seeing the Raiders ahead at halftime after their complete failure to convert on 3rd down was mind-blowing. As usual, the team hurt itself with dumb penalties (*cough* Quentin Groves *cough*), but somehow, that ball ended up in Michael Huff’s hands at the end of the game.

That game is in the past, but after listening to Coach Hue Jackson’s post-game presser, there were a few things that stood out about what it meant to be a Raider and wear the Silver and Black. As most people say, Al Davis embodied what it was to be a Raider. He liked to win pretty, but mostly it was “Just win, baby!” Keep on playing until you win.

People are saying the next three games are important, but in reality it’s the next five weeks that are really going to matter. This Sunday the Raiders take on the Cleveland Browns. The last time the Raiders were over .500 this early in the season, they went to the Super Bowl. Cleveland is a .500 team, because they had their bye week last week. The Raiders are flying high from their win in Texas, but must face the rested Browns which could be a battle. Being home in front of a sold out crowd will give them a big edge over the Browns.

The following week the Raiders host the Kansas City Chiefs. There’s some unfinished business here as the Chiefs finished first in the division last season, but were swept by the Raiders. Kansas City has very little chance of winning this game, unless Oakland gets ahead of itself. As long as the Raiders keep their cool, they’ll sail into a bye week.

The bye week is crucial. Many of the injured players are returning to the active roster, but they’re still healing. Every time Mike Mitchell goes down, the hearts of the Raider Nation sink a bit. The bye week also gives them time to work on whatever needs some tweaking.

Coming out of the bye they face the Broncos at home. No one is sure what’s going on at Denver’s quarterback position, but one thing is for sure, they won’t be able to stop the run. The Raiders can expect a physical win over this team at home. The Broncos will likely give Tim Tebow and extended look as the starter. Whether Tebow’s run as started extends three weeks into the future we do not know.

Week 10 is the one that is so important in every Raider fan’s heart as well as in the standings. The Raiders head to San Diego to face the Chargers. The team has to travel downstate to face Rivers and his crew. In true San Diego fashion, they have started slowly, but by week 10 will have picked up steam and be looking to get some wins. Luckily for the Raiders the stadium will be half-packed with Silver and Black so they can count on the 12th man showing up even on the road.

This brings everything full circle to something Coach Jackson said at Sunday’s post-game presser that Mr. Davis told him: “Hue, don’t believe in plays, believe in players. That eventually your players will make plays for you.”

Mr. Davis gave innumerable players second chances: Lyle Alzado, Jim Plunkett, Howie Long and the list goes on. Davis believed in McFadden and Darrius Heyward-Bey, despite their lackluster first two seasons. The key to winning through the next five weeks and beyond is trusting the young players to get better as they gain more experience. Believing in players is essential to what it means to be silver and black and to “Just Win, Baby!”

Recipe for Domination vs Browns: Run

 Posted by at 11:05 AM  No Responses »
Oct 142011
 

The Raiders identity on offense relies on power in the running game and speed outside. Last week, Darren McFadden had a total of 51 rushing yards. McFadden has had a grand total of 126 rushing yards a 63 yards per game average over the last two games. The first three games McFadden had 393 yards and averaged 131 yards per game. To dominate opponents the Raiders need to get back to the bread and butter of their running game.

The Raiders are most explosive on offense when they run the ball effectively. The Raiders offensive line dominated the opposing defense and the running attack demoralized opponents over the first three games and Jason Campbell was able to stay upright and the passing game exploded a times. The Raiders are facing a Cleveland Browns team on Sunday that may be missing starting cornerback Joe Haden and will certainly be missing pass rushing defensive end Marcus Bernard. The Raiders offense will be given every opportunity to get the running game up and rolling against the Browns.

Jason Campbell needs to make Cleveland pay for loading the box to keep the Browns from keying on the run. Campbell needs to connect with Kevin Boss and other receivers on mid level patterns, seam routes and work the middle of the field. Boss has been underutilized as a receiver and had zero receptions last week in the game against the Texans. Not only will working the middle of the field open up running lanes for McFadden and Michael Bush, but it will also open up deep play action throws down the sidelines to the Raiders speedy receivers.

O.co Coliseum will turn into a memorial for the great Al Davis on Sunday. There is little doubt the Raiders will dedicate this game and the rest of this season to Al Davis. Al Davis would have liked nothing more than victory, but  he always preferred complete domination. The Raiders can kick-start this three game home stand with an explosion and domination of the Browns by running the ball effectively.

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