Raiders Reportedly Secretly Interviewing New Coaches

Looking for any kind of sign, clue, or indication whether the Oakland Raiders are ever going to decide to fire or keep coach Tom Cable? Here's a pretty big one. Multiple reports say that Al Davis has already completed a batch of secret interviews for Cable's job, and one of the guys he's talked to is Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh.

David White broke the details in the San Francisco Chronicle that Al Davis has been holding secret interviews over the last two weeks. Cable remains head coach of the Raiders, but this sort of thing makes you wonder if he might be on thin ice or something.

ESPN then reported that the Raiders spoke with Stanford's Jim Harbaugh about the job. Harbaugh reportedly declined the opportunity.

Harbaugh has now turned down yet another bigger and more prestigious coaching job to stay at Stanford. He might have actually meant it when he said, "I am a Stanford man."

The two guys whom the Chronicle reports have interviewed to become the next head coach of the Oakland Raiders are ex-Giants coach Jim Fassel, and the Raiders' 2002 Super Bowl season offensive coordinator Marc Trestman.

These are not exactly blockbuster candidates. Raiders fans would be about as happy with those guys as Buffalo Bills fans are with Chan Gailey.

But Fassel just coached his team to the UFL Championship, and Trestman just won a CFL championship coaching the Montreal Alouettes. They're both hot head coaching candidates somewhere.

And the Raiders might need a head coach, if they ever figure out what they're doing with the one they have.

Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who cannot hear the name Montreal Alouettes without bursting into a round of "Alouette, gentille Alouette!"

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