Crossbones
The Savior is on his way!
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Here is Jerry Mac's "case for Shell"...it was so easy: It's all Al Davis' fault... What else could he say? He couldn't come up with a single thing that Art did right...Frankly I think Jerry doesn't believe a word he wrote:
The case for Shell
Posted by Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer on Thursday at 5:42 pm
Two years ago, it was Rob Ryan's fault.
He insisted Warren Sapp was a defensive end in a 3-4 defense, tearing him away from the only position he'd ever known as a professional. The Raiders couldn't stop anyone, giving up 30 or more points nine times.
When it was all over, the Raiders were 5-11 and had given up 442 points _ the most in the Al Davis era and even more than 1997, the year Oakland gave up 419 points and pulled off the unlikely double of being ranked dead last against both the run and the pass.
Things got a little better in 2005, but it didn't appear Ryan had learned much. He opened the season using more 4-3, but had Tyler Brayton and Grant Irons as his starting outside linebackers when anyone with a pair of eyes could see Brayton was a miscast end and Irons couldn't defend a pass pattern.
The Raiders gave up 383 points and went 4-12, but there was some improvement. Sapp was left inside and rekindled some of his old skills. End Derrick Burgess was signed in free agency, giving the Raiders a pass rush. Rookie Kirk Morrison was installed as a starter.
Instead of firing Ryan along with Norv Turner, Davis gave him an extension. If he hadn't, Ryan would be on the opposite sideline Sunday with the Jets as Eric Mangini's defensive coordinator.
It's decision time on Art Shell, who has presided over the worst Raiders season since the last pre-Davis season of 1-13 in 1962.
It is not, of course, all of Shell's doing.
Davis waited until Feb. 11 to hire Shell, at which all other NFL openings had been filled. The list of assistant coaches to choose from was like a day-after Christmas sale. Shell wanted Tom Walsh, with whom he had coached in his last stint with the Raiders.
Davis not only said yes, he endorsed it. He said as much in training camp, telling everyone how bright Walsh was and that we would all find out in time.
He could have said no. It's not like Shell was in a position to demand anything.
Irv Eatman was hired before Shell arrived, and Jackie Slater was added to coach the offensive line. Eatman had been a line assistant, Slater had been a Hall of Fame player but never a coach. Again, there were no experienced offensive line coaches still out of a job in early February.
Davis acknolwedged Shell would have some rust, having not been a head coach since 1994 or an assistant since 1998. Then he did nothing to help him overcome it.
If Davs really believed the Raiders needed to return to a philosophy and a way of doing things that had been absent since they returned to Oakland, Shell wasn't a bad way to go, provided he had adequate support.
Davis provided none of that.
There was a telling moment after the 20-9 loss to Kansas City when Davis addressed the media and referenced a Bill Belichick comment how "coach Davis'' is most heavily involved with defense.
The inference was clear. Davis was taking credit for the defense and distancing himself from the offense. Davis loves to say it's great being the Raiders coach because the coach can take credit for anything that goes right and he gets blamed for what goes wrong.
The truth, as Howie Long explained in "America's Game, the story of the 1983 Raiders,'' is actually the opposite. Tom Flores was the ideal coach for the Raiders, Long said, because he could deal with Davis taking credit for the successes while blaming Flores for the problems.
So can Shell. He understands how it works.
There's a line in one of National Lampoon's "Vacation'' movies where Clark Griswold's wife asks,"Why can't we go on vacation like normal people?,'' and Griswold (Chevy Chase) responds, "We're not normal people. We're the Griswolds.''
The Raiders are the Griswolds of the NFL, working their way toward WallyWorld. They are unlike any other organization in professional sports. They don't operate like anyone else and it would be a waste of time to expect as much. When they were good, it was part of their charm.
The problem, of course, is the Raiders aren't good, and haven't been for some time. They've won 15 of 63 games over the past four seasons. No promising young coach wants the job, and neither do established winners.
Yet Oakland's defense provides a window of opportunity for something respectable. It's a good, but not great defense. A great defense would never have a 2-13 record, regardless of the offense it's matched with.
Davis made a run at Bobby Petrino last year and was rejected. If he truly wants to attract a young offensive coach in 2008, he leaves Shell where he is, provides him with a solid offensive coordinator, drafts a stud runner with the top pick, finds a veteran quarterback not prone to turnovers.
Improve the record to somewhere near .500 and then the Raiders job becomes more palatable, with Shell moving upstairs having helped to right the ship.
There's a growing faction of "Raider Nation'' shouting "Davis must go'' at the top of their lungs, but the reality is Davis isn't going anywhere. Davis is the Raiders, the Raiders are Davis. You don't have one without the other.
It's up to Davis to fix things, and it's not impossible. You can't blame him for everything wrong and ignore the fact that he re-hired Ryan and picked the defensive personnel.
The best way to repair things in the short term _ which is the only way the Raiders operate _ is to keep Shell. Let him weed out those offensively who are not on board, including Jerry Porter and Randy Moss.
Allow Shell to deal with the discipline and direction, leaving the X's and O's to capable coordinators.
This may not be the normal way to operate a franchise, but the Raiders aren't normal. They're the Raiders.
Spare me the argument about Shell's lack of fire on the sideline. Jon Gruden did a lot of yelling and screaming for the Bucs this year and they weren't much better than the Raiders. Tony Dungy can rival Shell for a poker face, but it's a non-issue because the Colts win.
John Madden ranted and raved, his press pass flapping in the breeze. Tom Flores did not. The next time a team wins or loses because of the sideline demeanor of the head coach will be the first time.
Don't worry about the overblown "communication'' issue. You think Bill Parcells or Bill Belichick takes the time to explain to veterans why they've been bumped by a younger player on the depth chart? Doug Gabriel still has no idea what he did wrong in New England _ he was simply shown the door.
It's a tough business, and those who don't get enough touches or are suddenly out of the starting lineup are still collecting a paycheck.
Give Shell some help and another year and see what happens.
Thursday's news and notes:
– QB Aaron Brooks worked without pain for the second consecutive day and Shell said he is expected to start against the Jets.
– WR Randy Moss is listed as questionable, but Shell ruled him out of the Jets game. Moss, Shell said, turned his ankle over against Cincinnati on Dec. 10 and isn't close to being ready.
It's the third consecutive season Moss has been hampered by injury after being relatively injury free for the first six seasonso f his career.
– RB Zack Crockett (heel) is listed as questionable but will face the Jets, Shell said. Crockett didn't practice Wednesday because the Raiders stayed off the mud and grass and practiced on artificual surface. Artificial surface is harder on Crockett's heel. The Raiders practiced on grass Thursday.
– LT Barry Sims repeated some of his comments of two weeks ago to ANG's Bill Soliday regarding his discontent with how the Raiders handled his benching in favor of Paul McQuistan.
"I just went out there and nobody really explained anything to me. They gave me a bunch of excuses why I wasn't playing that weren't really relevant to the situation,'' Sims said. "I don't like to see what's happening to this organization. It's a winning tradition here, and we've had four losing seasons in a row. And that's hard to take, especially with the time and effort that we put in, working to makethings right and get better. It's tough.''
Sims is due a $4.5 million roster bonus in March and almost certainly will be released.
– In Wednesday's blog "The case against Shell'' I made reference to Shell hiring Irv Eatman and Jackie Slater as his line coaches. Eatman was actually hired before Shell came aboard.
