If you believe the rumor mill, Tom Cable is already as good as fired as head coach of the Oakland Raiders.
And if you believe the rumor mill, former Raiders coach Lane Kiffin is going to swoop in and hire Cable immediately if the Raiders fire him.
If Al Davis catches wind of that rumor, Cable's not getting fired until five minutes before kickoff of USC's first game in September 2010.
ProFootballTalk.com is reporting that if the Raiders do fire Cable, Lane Kiffin would immediately snatch him up for his staff at USC. This would be a mild surprise, because Kiffin's raiding of Oakland's coaching staff in 2008 left Kiffin and Cable not on the best of terms.
The Raiders, meanwhile, are busy shooting down reports that they're already interviewing guys for Cable's job.
Yet another of these reports popped up late this week, as the Baltimore-area Carroll County Times reported that Ravens quarterbacks coach Hue Jackson is interviewing not for the Raiders' offensive coordinator position, but for the Raiders' head coaching position.
"I would vociferously deny that any head coaching interviews are taking place while (Al Davis) is still meeting with Tom Cable," Raiders senior executive John Herrera told the Oakland Tribune.
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"Would vociferously deny"? Doesn't his use of the future tense make that sort of a non-denial?
Until the Al Davis actually makes up his mind on this one, expect many more carefully-worded non-denials.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who would consider working with Lane Kiffin, but would never let him drive.
