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Patrick A. Patterson/ mvn.com

Rob Ryan likely out as Raiders Defensive Coordinator despite press release to the contrary

Oakland Raiders’ spokesman Mike Taylor has released a statement saying in effect that Rob Ryan has not yet been fired. Nowhere in that statement is anything saying that Ryan will remain the Raiders’ defensive coordinator. This is reminiscent of the Adam Schefter report last season that Art Shell would be fired. The Raiders fired back a press release saying that no decision had been made, and that Adam Schefter was a Bronco operative and a “false rumor mongerer.”

The text of the press release, per Jerry Mac Donald of the Oakland Tribune:

“The recent conjecture regarding the removal of Rob Ryan is incorrect and the constant barrage of rumors is irresponsible. The Raiders organization stated that the speculation that Rob Ryan will be relieve of his duties should stop.”

This is Orwellian doublespeak at its finest. “The recent conjecture regarding the removal or Rob Ryan is incorrect and the constant barrage of rumors is irresponsible.” This is a sentence that contains a lot of words and says very little. In fact, it would do a Washington DC spin doctor proud. The essence of this sentence is: The reports of Rob Ryan’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. (Apologies to Mark Twain.) The attack on the media rumors is a clear echo of the “False Rumor Mongerer” press release of a year ago.

The second sentence is even more of a political spin than the first, “The Raiders organization stated that the speculation that Rob Ryan will be relieve (sic) of his duties should stop.” Nowhere does it say that Rob Ryan will not be fired, or that Rob Ryan is to return. It only asks for the speculation to stop. Again, this is eerily similar to the “False Rumor Mongerer” press release.

Essentially, this press release only serves to state that at this time Rob Ryan is the Raiders’ defensive coordinator as of now. Most likely, Al Davis is trying to work a deal for a draft pick or two from the Jets after reports were published that they had struck a deal with Ryan. Despite the “False Rumor Mongerer” memo and its denials, Art Shell was fired following the season. Expect this Rob Ryan memo to mean about as much in the grand scheme of things as the one from last year.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 4th, 2008 at 7:01 pm and is filed under 2008 Raiders Offseason, NFL News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.