Late this season, Raiders owner Mark Davis admitted he was frustrated.
The Raiders again were collapsing en route to a second consecutive 4-12 season, and his team was in the midst of a six-game losing skid to close out the year.
Inevitably, speculation arose that general manager Reggie McKenzie and head coach Dennis Allen were vulnerable and could be ejected after the season.
Yet Davis threw cold water on the hot rumors.
“If you’re committed to something, you have to be patient with it,” he told Bay Area News Group columnist Tim Kawakami.
Now we have proof that Davis is indeed a very patient man.
After a meeting with Allen Tuesday, Davis told reporters that the head coach will be back for the third-year of his four-year deal. And McKenzie isn’t going anywhere, either. The three of them are expected to get together Wednesday for another meeting on what direction to take in the offseason.
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While many Raiders fans are tired of being patient, tired of losing and hungry for a return of the team’s winning ways, Davis’ decision to retain the two leaders of his football team is a good thing. Whether Allen ultimately proves to be the right coach is still to be determined. Maybe he won’t be. Maybe even with an influx of talent and a continuation of continuity Year 3 will be a replay of the first two years of his reign.
But what it tells us is that Davis is not going to be changing course and making rash decisions every single year. He’s going to set people in place and let them do what they do. In the long run, that will be a good thing.
Once the Raiders get the right talent with the right people in place, they’ll be able to build a strong foundation for success. Another coaching change would have been going back to Square One … again.
Davis, in fact, said he never considered firing Allen.
“It was never in doubt,” he told Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Added Davis, in an interview with ESPN.com: “The meeting went really well. We talked about a lot of things, from personnel issues to the coaches to a review of the past season to the draft and our needs for next season.
“We’re ready to rock and roll.”
