Head Coach Lane Kiffin: The Good, The Bad, and the Unanswered Questions

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Please feel free to contribute.... my thoughts:

The Good:
  • Definitely brings a youthful enthusiasm to the job not seen since Gruden
  • Great coaching tree (Caroll, Chow, Monte Kiffin, Jon Gruden)
  • Previous experience coaching WRs can do nothing but help Porter and Moss
  • Took Norm Chow's offense and actually improved on its efficiency adding some intermediate and deep ball elements
  • His recruiting background. And I can't say this enough... but here's a guy whose job it is to sell young men into coming to USC to play football. Now I know going to USC isn't the toughest sell in the world, but there's a rah-rah element there that will definitely help him get over with the youth on the Raiders roster, the potential draftees, and prospective coaches to fill out the staff
  • If he holds his players 1/2 as accountable as his old man, it will be a breath of fresh air in this organization
  • Knowing JaMarcus Russell as I do and the offense he played in under Jimbo Fisher at LSU, I have to say I am more than mildly interested in the notion of a Russell/Kiffin combination
  • Ryan's already been confirmed as staying at DC (as if there was any doubt)

The Bad
  • For every bit of "youthful enthusiasm" he brings with him inexperience as a head coach
  • How many 31-yr old college assistants have ever been an NFL head coach? Hell, how many 31-yr old NFL assistants have been head coach
  • Like I would a college player coming into the NFL, I think it will take at least 8 -- 16 games for Kiffin to really get acclimated to the speed of the pro game. Expect a 1st year growing period
  • No head coaching experience at any level... anywhere
  • How long is his leash with Al if things go south quickly (see Callahan, Turner, Shell)?

Unanswered Questions
  • How will Kiffin co-exist with primadona NFL players (Moss, Porter, Sapp)?
  • 5-yr contract from Davis? Sounds like an unprecedented commitment for Davis and a young coach. How long is the leash?
  • Offensive Coordinator? Offensive Line Coach? Future of Freddy B? Future of Skip Peete?
  • With a 5-yr deal, this really is Al's swan song of a hire... does he have one last genius move left in his bag?
  • Can Kiffin, as the new face of Raider coaching, bring Free Agents to Oakland?
  • Not to get all 'Hollywood Inside Story' but how will Kiffin's young family (wife, 2-yr old daughter, and 3 month old daughter) handle his "Commitment to Excellence"?
  • Will the Raider Nation embrace him?

Thoughts? Additions?
 
Unanswered:

Will this be the last year we have RR as DC, and will Davis stay committed to keeping just as much attention to the defense as the offense in personnel moves?
 
I think RR is locked up for a couple of more years so I wouldn't be overly concerned at this juncture.

Will Raider Nation embrace him? I think R.N. will absolutely embrace this guy.

To me the primary question is will the players respect him? If not, will he have the lattitude to jetison them?
 
You pretty much covered it Ratty Natty...

I would put his age/experience in all three categories... While it's bad he doesn't have a meaty slam dunk resume, by many accounts this is a very driven, competitive aggressive young man... The kind of man that will probably bust his ass to prove himself and uphold the family name... Will he succeed? I don't know, but he seems like the kind of guy that will go up and take three solid hacks at the pitch if you know what I mean...

With some of the more experienced candidates, like say Denny Green, I had the feeling they were asking themselves 'what could this team do for me at this stage of my career?' rather than 'what can I do for this team?'...


That Kiff would take the job after all the negative headlines this team/owner has generated this offseason says alot about the confidence he has in his own ability... Taking on this task shows he's not afraid to fail.... You can have all the X's and O's skills in the world, but it all comes down to your ability to knuckle up and want to lead... Hopefully some of the question marks we have on the roster are tired of losing and want to be led....


I'm anxious to see what kind of offense Kiff puts together without Pete Carroll's input... There's been sentiment that Carroll reigned the offense in because he wasn't comfortable with the chances Chow's offense tended to take...

I'm cautiously optimistic at this point... I think Kiffen is smart and posseses all the traits that make for a good head coach, but it remains to be seen if his vision will be a match with Al's... If this is indeed Al's last hire, he'd be well served in giving the kid some latitude in putting together a staff/roster/offense he'll be comfortable working with....

I'm sure the usual cast of characters (Tim Kawakami, Ray Ratto) will point out how bad a hire this is and just how bad the odds are stacked against him blah blah blah, but here's to hoping Al finally caught a break...
 
I feel pretty happy with the hire, certainly more so than the last two. I have nothing more solid to base it on than gut instinct. He is going to need time to grow into the role of being an NFL HC, but he has plenty of people to speak to if he needs guidance on anything. I think we need to be patient and give him every chance to succeed. I hope that we can be competitive and that we show some signs of improvement during the course of the season.

I wonder what his preference would be for the first draft pick?

Now for the rest of the offensive coaching staff....
 
my questions now are more towards... how many of our guys are "Kiffen guys"

We dont have a Carson Palmer or a Matt Leinart at QB... AWAL? Quinn? Russell? Leftwich? Brooks???? Thats one of the first questions that hell need to answer and answer soon. I think Al Davis has a good idea who he wants in the first round... And I think Kiffen must have bought into that to get hired.
 
oh and who doesnt think this is a move to help keep sapp around? hire his former DCos son? Something tells me sapp at least got a call about this.
 
I can't see myself taking anything more than a wait-and-see approach, just because I think it's impossible for fans to judge how a coach is gonna do, especially a guy on his first job. Heck, he's never been a head coach, so even he and his colleagues have no idea.

One thing I'm not worried about: Gaining the respect of the players. Overrated, IMO. It comes with winning. If he does a good job as a coach, then all of a sudden we won't hear as much about how Al won't let his coaches coach. We sure didn't hear that when Gruden was here.

I do like that Al has a good record of choosing young guys. It's when he brings in cronies, and goes with the players choice that we run into problems.
 
It does make you wonder why Al hasn't gone with that approach more often, although I guess he would have done if Payton had taken the job.
 
one more thing imna have to list under bad

ill say to someone moderately knowledgable about football

"We just hired Kiffen to be our head coach!"

"Monte?"

"No his son..."

I wonder how many times Coach Ks father will be brought up... imagine another Raiders/TB superbowl... that would be an angle that would never go away.
 
For some reason the thought of playing TB in the superbowl wouldn't be my biggest worry, but I know what you mean. Still it might be a driving factor for him to be a success.
 
I think this is a step in the right direction for us. Might take some time, but I hope that things start looking up.
 
Natty, good post. Regarding working with prima donnas......you do realize he was at USC, right? No offense to the USC guys here, but that team had some of those guys over the last couple years. And I also agree that winning cures all ills.
 
Good : Young Bright Mind, Has experience with the PRO style game at USC. Has experience with High Profile Players (overpayed bitches). He is willing to work with others like he did with Sark. He has to be flexible (since he took the job working for Mr. Davis.) He played QB so I like the fact if we go and draft the long term solution for this team in Russell. Hopefully will bring in Trestman or Sark to be O-Coordinator. He signed the five-year deal which is not short term, we have to see what we get from him for at least 3 years. I hate to say it but he's Art Shell's replacement.

Bad : He is Art Shell's replacement and I hate to say that. Young and doesn't have the experience working with the players and game time aspects. Has to deal with Moss and Porter issues after they were messed up. Has to clean up the O-line and make some necessary cuts....He isn't Rob Ryan so I hope Al pays Rob to stay....

Unanswered Questions : Doesn't have a confirmed OC yet, and no clue who will be coaching out on the O-line. Who will be starting at QB, O-line, WR, RB, and FB. He has Goatee so that means he is around my age and I am scared that someone with my childish mind is taking over my Raiders!!!!
 
We have heard so much about the Raiders HC position as a bad fit or bad opportunity. As I think about this, the Raiders HC position may be a perfect fit for a college OC jumping to the NFL (just hope Kiffin is the right guy). Given Al's style and involvement, the young coach doesn't have to come in prepared to take on as much responsibility - unlike the senior HCs who want to be both GM and coach. It gives him an opportunity to work into the job and learn. He isn't expected to be a full service HC, no one who coaches the Raiders is.

If there is a problem, it may be down the road as he seeks to take on more responisiblity - which will happen if the Raiders start to win and he becomes more and more comfortable with the HC's responsibilities. Question will be what is Al's interest at that point in time. I bet Kiffin is being asked to focus on management of on the field issues, with particular attention to the offense. Heck how much time does anyone think Shell spent with the defense this past year?
 
A few tidbits I've heard from an insider on how the Sark/Lofton thing went down. Starting with Lofton first...Lofton originally interviewed for the HC gig and was told that he seemed green at this point when he didn't show Al what his offense would look like. He did not have a "system" in place. He did no X's and O's yet he was all over the board. Within the same meeting he was told they would look at an assistant HC type role with over seeing the WR's to "spark" the prima donnas we have at WR and that Freddie B would become a quality control type guy. Negotiations were ongoing yet Lofton wanted some big coin and Al didn't want no part of it. Sarkisian was very interested in the job and Al wanted him yet was noted that Al wasn't sure if the kid had the "fire" meaning to get his players "motivated." As he presented himself the kid had a well prepared presentation and said all the right things. He presented his game plane to include Kiffin and possibly USC's O-line coach. Sarkisian also acted as if he had the Raiders by the "balls" and with the 2nd interview the demands grew. Kiffin stepped up to the plate and showed passion and was able to answer Al's questions at the drop of a dime and showed the "balls" to challenge Al on one particular "play" scenario. Instant flashback to Jon Gruden. Kiffin also displayed his hunger to be an NFL coach rather then Sark who had more of the "prima donna" you need me more then I need you. Al did want Sark, but now feels he got his guy.

Take it for what's its worth, but I told you on January 22nd our coach would be named.
 
Stanny said:
A few tidbits I've heard from an insider on how the Sark/Lofton thing went down. Starting with Lofton first...Lofton originally interviewed for the HC gig and was told that he seemed green at this point when he didn't show Al what his offense would look like. He did not have a "system" in place. He did no X's and O's yet he was all over the board. Within the same meeting he was told they would look at an assistant HC type role with over seeing the WR's to "spark" the prima donnas we have at WR and that Freddie B would become a quality control type guy. Negotiations were ongoing yet Lofton wanted some big coin and Al didn't want no part of it. Sarkisian was very interested in the job and Al wanted him yet was noted that Al wasn't sure if the kid had the "fire" meaning to get his players "motivated." As he presented himself the kid had a well prepared presentation and said all the right things. He presented his game plane to include Kiffin and possibly USC's O-line coach. Sarkisian also acted as if he had the Raiders by the "balls" and with the 2nd interview the demands grew. Kiffin stepped up to the plate and showed passion and was able to answer Al's questions at the drop of a dime and showed the "balls" to challenge Al on one particular "play" scenario. Instant flashback to Jon Gruden. Kiffin also displayed his hunger to be an NFL coach rather then Sark who had more of the "prima donna" you need me more then I need you. Al did want Sark, but now feels he got his guy.

Take it for what's its worth, but I told you on January 22nd our coach would be named.
Click to expand...

:eek:

Someone get this man a beverage of his choice! Good scoop, bro!
 
I'm assuming the Press Conference will be held live on NFL Network or ESPN.

Anybody know for sure?
 
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