After weeks of coaching rumors, Al Davis pulled a quick one on the Nation announcing 31 year old Lane Kiffin head coach. Kiffin, the former USC offensive coordinator, will step in and try to rebuild a very very broken Raider offense. I think the move is risky for Davis, but I think it is a risk worth taking.
The Raider defense was exceptional last season, and I fully expect the group to continue thir dominance into next season. Rob Ryan has great command of his players and gets them to perfom at a high level. With the defense under control, Kiffin only has to worry about the offense. After studying under guru Norm Chow for years at USC, Kiffin knows how to run a deceptive, explosive offense very suitable for the players currently on the Oakland roster. The creativity of Kiffin's offense will allow Randy Moss and his cohorts much better opportunities of getting open in space to make some plays. I think Andrew Walter will improve under Kiffin. A former college QB, Kiffin understands the position and has been around 2 Heisman Trophy winners along with QB guru Chow. I think Walter will be comfortable in the offense, which has similarities to the offense he ran at Arizona State where he set school and pac-10 records. My only concern is, how effective is Kiffin as a leader? Will he be able to get his players to believe in his gameplan and coaching techniques. With some volatile mouths on the team, I am not sure if he has the experience to handle media scrutiny, player complaints, and of course...Mt. Davis. If those aspects stay under control, I think the upside to this deal is tremendous.
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2 comments:
That's a good point: Kiffin's experience working with, say, Chow, and his experience running creative offensive strategies should do the team some good. I think you have to lose Porter, but not necessarily Moss, and if you can get a veteran quarterback to come in--I have no idea who--and put some points on the board, I think the Raiders can be a 8-8 team next season.
Or this all could explode in Al Davis' face ...
raiders suck!
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