Putting it all together: Lane Kiffin, Al Davis and the media

With all the recent events brewing in Oakland, I was contemplating republishing a Jan. 11 article titled "Hey, Pete Carroll, want to come to Oakland?"It was a rhetorical question, of course, but the last sentence of the article ended with: "It's a harsh reality, but until [Al] Davis steps down from his dominant role, every offseason in Oakland will take the form of this one: confusing, controversial and utterly unnecessary."It didn't take long (two weeks, actually) for Davis to spark the team's 10 Santonio Holmes White jersey
first avoidable -- but predictable -- controversy.Friday, ESPN reported that Davis sent 32-year-old head coach Lane Kiffin a letter of resignation for Kiffin to sign. With just a bit of ink, the young coach would give the 78-year-old team owner the power to hire the Raiders' fourth coach in four years.Since then, there have been hundreds of reports released detailing the sticky situation: What went wrong, what is forthcoming and what the parties involved have to say." owner Al Davis has been pushing for coach Lane Kiffin to resign and is considering Dennis Green as a potential replacement, sources close to Kiffin and the team said," the original ESPN.com report read.This news came close to a month after the Rob Ryan coaching controversy first began to hit press. In a similar-style report on Jan. 2, the Oakland Tribune declared that Ryan, the team's defensive coordinator, had been told he'd be fired within a week, and would likely take a job with the New York Jets thereafter.Last Wednesday, Kiffin put that rumor to rest, telling the Chicago Tribune, "Rob has a contract with the Raiders and he'll be back." Essentially, that means Davis wants Ryan back.Whether Davis wants Kiffin back in '08 is a different question. As it appears now, the answer is "no."Speaking on behalf of the Raiders' organization, senior executive John Herrera clearly stated otherwise, however. "There is no issue here. There was never an issue here. There's nothing to it."Sounds a bit stubborn to me. It's hard to believe there's "nothing to" a situation that has been escalating in news coverage and legitimacy for several weeks now. ESPN is the first big-name news source to official report the dispute, but outlets all over the Bay Area had indicated the rift between the two parties all throughout the season."Although the bomb that set the most recent developments in motion was Kiffin's attempt to fire defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, Kiffin and Davis began clashing on staff makeup a year ago over a contract for Mark Jackson, Kiffin's top administrative aide," a Sports XChange report on MSNBC.com read."Jackson got neither the money nor the length of agreement that Kiffin thought Davis had agreed to. By mid-season, Davis essentially had Jackson moved out of his office in the personnel department and rendered him a non-person."Now, it seems Davis wants to make Kiffin a "non-person" by getting him to opt out of his current contract, which has two years remaining on it.However, while coaching the North team at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Saturday, Kiffin responded "I hope so," to whether he'd like to be back in silver and black next season.Suspiciously, though, Kiffin wasn't dressed in Raider attire for the Senior Bowl events this past weekend. The Oakland Tribune was the first to point out that Jon Gruden also didn't sport the Raider logo during his season-ending press conference in 2001.They also reported that the team recently requested permission to talk with ex-Redskins 10 Santonio Holmes black jersey
offensive assistant Al Saunders, who was fired by the team Saturday. Saunders interviewed for the Raiders' head coaching job in the '06 offseason before Davis eventually opted for Art Shell.Since 2003, Oakland has hired four different head coaches, while in the meantime accruing a 19-61 record. The list of coaches during that span includes Bill Callahan, Norv Turner, Shell and Kiffin.To say the Raiders' dilemma stems from a coaching problem is not only off-base, but pure blind loyalty to an owner whose best days are behind him.Through five losing seasons, four different head coaches and an array of unnecessary controversies, there has always been one common denominator: Al Davis.