Oakland Decides To Retain Cable

NFL News - January 24th, 2010 - Written by Bryan

The Oakland Raiders have seemed to be as confused as anyone, when it comes to the future of head coach Tom Cable for upcoming 2010 NFL season. However, after several weeks and many unconfirmed reports later, ESPN.com says that a source close to the situation has inferred that the Raiders will indeed retain Cable for next year.

Cable's contract is slated to go through next year, and owner Al Davis has decided that Cable will finish it out. As recent as Saturday, Oakland had officially made no announcement. The organization still remains mum publicly on the issue.

Since the regular seasons conclusions back on January 3rd, Davis has said that the coaching decision will be open-ended.

Under Cable's tenure, the Raiders have gone 9-19 since he replaced former coach Lane Kiffin, midway through the 2008 season. Oakland has accumulated an NFL record of seven straight seasons with at least 11 losses.

The decision to retain Cable as coach is said to be a popular one amongst players, as they have been on record in recent weeks saying that they enjoy playing for their coach, and would like to see him stay.

While the Raiders organization has made the decision to retain Cable, changes are expected to be made regarding many of the assistant coaches on staff.

Oakland was in the bottom half statistically on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball this season. The team started four different quarterbacks. Former no.1 overall draft pick JaMarcus Russel has failed to progress how the team wanted him too. The organization must make a decision whether to keep the young quarterback with continued efforts of development, or move in a different direction. Russel is said to have a lack of leadership, and has not grasped the full concept of what it means to play quarterback in the NFL.

Cable will have his work cut out for him next season whether Russel remains with the team or not. He will continue to be on a short leash with the organization and will need to produce wins quickly.

Cable is the latest in the line of coaches who were thought to be on their way out the door, only to be retained. Cleveland's Eric Mangini, Jacksonville's Jack Del Rio, and Dallas' Wade Phillips were all thought to potentially be dismissed. Instead, NFL owners have opted for stability in the organization, at least for now.