It didn't take Lane Kiffin long to find another job after his rather infamous year-and-a-half stint as head coach of the Oakland Raiders. Recently, he's been named head coach at the University of Tennessee, and was able to get his father, Buccaneers defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, to join him.
Kiffin continued to fill out his staff at Tennessee this week by hiring a couple of his former colleagues in the Oakland organization. According to Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune, offensive line coach James Cregg will be leaving to join the fighting Kiffin's, while two other members of the Raiders front office -- director of football operations Mark Jackson, and Steve Reaves, whose job was to essentially make copies and go on coffee runs -- also left the organization today, presumably, to join Kifin.
Somewhere in his lair, owner Al Davis is throwing papers in the air trying to find a way to sue somebody, or, if all else fails, fire somebody. I'm sure at some point Davis will have a reaction to this in the form of a bizarre press conference, so, while we wait, let's get the reaction of current Raiders sacrificial lamb (head coach) Tom Cable.
"I'm pissed. That's the best way to put it," Cable said. "Quite frankly, that's the only way I can put it.""It goes without saying how extremely disappointed I am, and that decision and what it entails, and the way it was made," Cable said. "I'm all about loyalty and doing whatever it takes, no matter what the situation is. "He made a choice to move on. He's taking a position with the former head coach here. It is ridiculous, to be quite honest with you, given an extraordinary opportunity to really take over and be the line coach, and at this point he chose to go another route."
As my colleague Ryan Wilson briefly points out via E-mail, Cable is probably "pissed" because he's not one of the guys Kiffin asked to join him at Tennessee, far, far away from the madness that is Al Davis' circle of mayhem and insanity, otherwise known as the Oakland Raiders.
Of course, Cable didn't stop by simply saying he was pissed, because, you see, it's all about loyalty! And the brotherhood of the offensive line! Or something.
"You've got to understand offensive linemen. This is our world. If I can speak freely here, it's about pride, it's about commitment, it's about trusting everybody next to you. So, to walk your ass out of here is about as bad a deal as you could possibly do to that group of guys."
Beyond that, Cable also spoke about how this move didn't need to be made right now, as Kiffin could have waited another week or two once the Raiders are done playing games. And to think, I thought they were already done.
Still, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Kiffin did this, as McDonald sort of suggests in his article, to stick it to his former employers. Your move, Al Davis.
Tom Cable Is Not a Fan of Lane Kiffin's Hiring Process at Tennessee originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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