August 22, 2008
Oakland Raiders' Kiffin working the media to his advantage?
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An island all his own? Or is he sharing it with the boss?
Does anyone remember this?
"He is a phenomenal player, but I don’t really think running back is a need for us.""We don’t have a lot of picks. We have the N choice overall, which is significant. We could trade down, obviously. We’d love to continue to work on our defensive line. There are a couple of really good defensive lineman that may be available at 4."
Anyone? For those of you that don't recall, those are quotes from Lane Kiffin regarding Darren McFadden prior to the 2008 NFL Draft. I don't know about you guys, but he had me completely fooled. This can be called many things. Lying, misdirecting, bluffing, or since it's an election year we can call it spinning. Whatever you call it, you'd have to admit that just these quotes alone proved Kiffin to be a very adept spin-master.
Never before have the Raiders had a coach so outwardly defy Big Al. Madden suffered for it. Tom Flores may never get into the Hall of Fame because of it. Mike Shanahan let the world know about his dislike for the position after being relieved of it. Mike White has nearly caused people to believe he has Alzheimers' disease by never, ever, speaking about it. Speaking of politicians, John Gruden to this day still basques in the experience of it. Art Shell is still in hiding after attempting it a second time.
So leave it to the youngest 'modern day' head coach in 'league history,' (talk about an oxymoron), to step up to the mic and basically let Al have it nearly every chance he gets. What gives? Either Coach Kiff is in the Guinness Book for the largest set of cajones known to mankind, he has compromising photos of Lance Alworth, he hates being a head coach so he's ensuring he never gets hired as one again, or he's topping the draft bluff by setting up his biggest misdirection/spin of his young career.
"I met with the owner and expressed that with Al, we talked about a lot of things and a lot of different scenarios that could come up, and Al decided to stay with Rob. Rob has one year left on his contract...I’ve always had a strong and very good relationship with Rob." - Lane Kiffin on Rob Ryan at the Owner's meetings in April.
"when there is smoke there is fire — not everything was made up. But we’re moving forward...It’s very unique. The way I look at it, we need each other to win. We have to make the best of our relationship … He’s very hands on … He’s very demanding. He’s done a lot in this game. He prides himself on his football knowledge." - Lane Kiffin on Al Davis during the Owner's meetings in April.
So if Lane was misdirecting with McFadden, was he doing the same with the above quotes? I have yet to see any reason to think that he was, except for the last drive of the Tennessee game last Friday. For a brief moment, he gave Ryan a look and a few choice words on the sideline. I don't read lips so I won't venture to say I know what was said, but I wouldn't doubt if it was along the lines of, "Can't you stop these <bleep> <bleep><bleep>..ing you <bleep><bleep>!"
Hey, who here hasn't said a variation of that to our most cherished loved ones, let alone our friends? When everything has been going too well at home for a good amount of time, I make sure to say something like that to my wife just to liven things up! Doesn't everyone? I definitely say stuff like that to Patrick on at least an 'every other day' pace so I don't really look at that 'tough talk' as a big deal. As a matter of fact, if Patrick posts that link to his <bleep><bleep><bleep>Papa Joe interview one<bleep><bleep>...re<bleep>..en time, I'm gonna' <bleep><bleep><bleepbleep><bleep>...and that will show him a link!
Uh-Hum...where were we? Oh yeah. Anyway, there was an interesting quote from a well known Raiders beat writer that I think I should share. Jerry McDonald had this to say about the so-called rift between Big Al and Coach Kiff:
"One thing to remember about Al Davis. Although the perception is the opposite, he doesn't want people agreeing with him all the time. Conflict is part of his nature. He believes it is simply part of the nature of men. It's no big deal. The different twist from Kiffin is airing it in public _ something he has no use for. He has backed off the roster issue, maybe realizing he's made his point and ought to drop it."
I tend to agree with this line of thinking. Obviously, very few people really know Al Davis, but I'd wager that he has a tendency to be a bully to those without a spine and a Devil's advocate to those who have one. As long as the head coach shows the 'Don' his respect at the end of the day, nothing will be lost. This is probably why Shanahan was canned during the season, not because he irritated the often irritable owner. Losing does that, and Al Davis has been through that enough already.
Al has been lauded for his slight of hand throughout his career and now he has a coach that may be just as devious when it comes to playing the press. 'O.k. Rob, what are you getting at? You don't really think that all of this hysteria about the rift between Kiffin and Davis is a ruse do you?' The answer to that question is my point in all of this.
Most of us are old enough to remember the O.J. trial. The burden of proof was what is called 'reasonable doubt' in our jurisprudence. With the question of the Davis/Kiffin rift, is there reasonable doubt of a rift existing?
Well, to answer the 'ruse' question, I would say that I don't know the answer. Not knowing how real this rift is probably shows that I have reasonable doubt in my mind, but do I? You can decide for yourself, but I tend to believe that Kiffin and Davis could actually devise 'said rift' to move attention away from other things about the team. These items of interest may be the type of story they wouldn't want their opponents to have a clue about.
One thing that many teams are trying to do at this point in time is disguise how good or bad they really are. Could it be that Kiffin is making comments about not having talent in order to hide how good the Raiders really are this year?
Patrick reported Shawne Merriman has said the Raiders should be good this year, Mike Freeman of CBS Sportsline has said it and he doesn't even like them, and others have been saying it too. Nearly everyone paying attention already thinks the Raiders will be an improved team next season. How good remains a mystery, a mystery that only time will tell.
For as possible as it is that Al Davis and Lane Kiffin are throwing misdirecting scraps to the press, it's also just as possible that these comments are just a window into an actual rift that still remains from the end of last season. And again I have to wonder, could that be true?
I find it difficult to fathom that anyone knows better than Al Davis. I also wonder to myself, "How could a guy that knows so much football really be as dumb as to keep a guy around to make it nearly impossible for him to win?" That just doesn't compute for me.
Many who already don't like Davis and blame him for the demise of the Raiders will tell you that his pride and ego are more important to him than winning. Maybe they're right, but I really don't think that makes much sense. When Plunkett became the starting quarterback during the 1980 season, Davis went to him and told him, "It doesn't matter if you don't play well, it only matters if you win."
A guy that thinks only of winning would make the roster moves necessary right? It's not like he (Davis) hasn't been more 'hands on' this year. He attended practices at camp and he's attending practice since camp ended. Nobody doubts that he has an eye for talent so he can see who's not performing and who is, can't he?
That's the question now isn't it? More commonly asked, "Has the game passed Mr. Davis by?" I don't think it has. I also don't think that Kiffin is as worried as he's led us to believe. I tend to think that he's misdirecting us.
If Bill Callahan had made some of the comments about these players that Kiffin has made in his year and a few months, there would've been a large scale revolt. Instead, these guys come out and play harder while telling the media that they appreciate the criticism. When Callahan made the statement, "Right now, we've gotta' be the dumbest team in America," he was right and yet he still was villified by the media and also his own team in the media. Stupid penalties that cost you the game are stupid! Doing them over and over shows a lack of intelligence! I remember all of the false starts, offsides, illegal procedures, holding, etc... Nobody can sit there and tell me they couldn't get through a game that year without talking about the 'stupid' mistakes.
Callahan got fired, and he lost his team. Callahan at the time had credibility. He had the same credibility that Tom Cable has right now. Kiffin, even after coaching a season in the pros still doesn't have that level of credibility and yet all is good in OakTown.
Conspiracy theorist? Maybe. It wouldn't be the first time for me. I still have trouble with the Grassy Knoll. I think that UFO's exist from other planets as well as our own and I was fooled last week with the news of Big Foot being found. So maybe I'm being fooled into thinking that there might be a rift between Davis and Kiffin. Maybe I'm just overthinking it and fooling myself into thinking there no rift at all.
Personally, I could care less if the two men went into the catacombs of McAfee every night and went toe to toe in some sort of backroom brawl cage match, pounding each other into oblivion. Whatever it takes, I just want to see the credo that is always associated with Al Davis and the Raiders, "Just Win Baby!"
Something tells me that's all these two guys want too.
Discussion
19 Comments on "Oakland Raiders' Kiffin working the media to his advantage?"
#1
Posted by Information 101, August 22, 2008 7:58 AM
Knockdown slugfests between Al Davis and his head coaches is normal. It is to be expected actually. It's always been that way with the exception of Tom Flores and John Madden (though we can presume Madden was his own man more so than Tom). The public usually does not have visibility into the specifics of these types of disputes. However, as a result of Kiff speaking his mind to the media, Al now has the advantage.
Give Al credit for being so good at what he does (hiding the truth) that most of the Raider Nation (in addition to anyone else following the action) is still having a hard time digesting the fact that not only does the rift between Kiff and Al actually exist, it is a severe problem poised to embroil the franchise in even further turmoil.
"Oh no", say the Raider Nation and all of the random pundits, ignorant bloggers and forum participants, "how can this be? Kiff is doing good stuff. Why give the guy the boot after just two seasons? We're showing improvement"
The blind, obedient Raider Nation would rather try and come up with an alternative explanation or anticipated outcome to the drama.
Here's a reality check - a Raiders head coach has very little authority. Can it be stated any more clearly? It would take an exceptional situation for this pattern to change so drastically from the way Al has handled it to date.
So, Kiff does very little as head coach but not for lack of wanting to be a bigger part of orchestrating team affairs. It has been speculated by beat writers that he is actually alienated from Al's meetings with his coaching staff. Wow, can it get any more demeaning? That would be proof the rumors are true. Al is really his own head coach and always has been. Come on, does anyone really believe Tom Flores had the right stuff to guide the franchise to two super bowls? You know there's a good reason he's not in the Hall of Fame don't you? Everyone who votes for Hall of Fame candidates knows how things work in Raiderland. Tom is a great guy but he's not a great head coach. Kind of hard to disguise that fact, sorry to say. He's a minion and has been since 1963 (though Tom was a Raider before Al was).
The head coach in our case right now, Kiff, amounts to shouting on the field to his players and being a mouthpiece to the media. It's also obvious he is not handling the latter role too well. His frustrations are showing and when that happens, it's all over. Tom Flores and John Madden had exceptional diplomacy, patience and tact which is how they survived. The other coaches along the Raider head coaching treadmill were skilled at coachspeak as explained elsewhere on these pages.
You may think this is all Al bashing but I'm just looking at his personal playbook in reminding people, Al's strategy has been perfectly clear all along. He is a master at setting people up to fail if they don't toe the company line in his empire. People in positions of authority often have the option of either dismissing undesirable employees or keeping them around, "giving them enough rope" so to speak. Some authority figures have a unique knack for getting the most out of their employees. Al does have that skill so believe it or not, he is willing to let guys learn on the job, which is one reason why he hired Kiff. He was willing to let the guy grow into the role while accepting there would be a learning curve.
However, when a minion rebels or questions the state of affairs, Al turns nasty. But like any great cartoon villain, he chooses to gloat over his victim, making sure they know who the man is, selectively picking the right moment to strike back. It would not surprise me if Kiff was fired and saddled with a lawsuit of whatever variety. In this dreaded scenario, Kiff's salary may not be paid and he has to hire attorneys to do battle with Al's attorneys.
That is a worst case scenario. Is Al that mean? Oh hell yes. His hatred leaves no stone unturned in his desire to teach others the lengths he will go to preserve his mystique. There are countless examples of Al's legal wrath. Kiff may soon become an afterthought buried in bills if Al feels like doing that to him.
It's Kiff's fault of course for being impudent to begin with. He had no idea what he was getting himself into when he took the job. He really did not know how to play ball with a guy like Al. Kiff's too nice a guy and he may not have experienced a brush with this type of arrogance before. He'll come through this experience much wiser and hopefully, not poorer. If history is an indication, Al has already forged ahead with identifying loopholes to stall or eliminate Kiff's due salary. That is purely speculation. If it doesn't unfold that way it is because Al did not want a spotlight on the situation any more than there is already. He also knows Kiff is a much more likable personality than he is. Perhaps Al's intelligence will override his wrath in this case. A lawsuit pitting the evil old man against his fresh faced, bratty head coach stands a chance at rubbing the beleaguered Raider Nation the wrong way. Image means a lot to Al so there you go Raider Nation, another bone tossed in your general direction. Kiff may get to walk away with his dignity intact.
It is also likely Kiff and Al are not on speaking terms or if they are, the conversations don't last long. Al's patience wears thin with bratty minions. If Kiff was comfortable with his line of communication to the boss he would not have spouted off to the media about his frustrations with the roster and whatever else. Usually, a head coach will bring his concerns to the boss and they will review all of that in private. In this case, Kiff has nowhere to turn. His coaching staff are all guys installed by Al. Can you name a single member of the coaching staff that is in Kiff's camp? None exist. The man is alone, drifting and understandably, not enjoying himself.
The unfortunate aspects to this are Al watched and waited for Kiff to trip up. On hiring Kiff, he knew he would be able to control this type of situation should it occur. Like a well-written script, Al remains distant from the fray while his reluctant puppet twists in the wind.
The current situation perfectly illustrates how Al thrives on seeing others try to swim through the muck. Kiff would rather do what coaches are supposed to do, be a factor in developing game plans, developing the talent on your roster and so forth.
No such luck.
#2
Posted by SpokaneOakfan, August 22, 2008 8:03 AM
I tend to take all of these things with a grain of salt. Ever since JaMarcus showed up to camp at 269 and the beat writers were scrambling for his instant weight loss secret, I've realized that most of these "anonymous source reports" are garbage. I picture Al, Lane and "source X" sitting around saying "let's tell them that I wanted you to quit!" "Let's tell them Russell is 300 lbs!"
I think Al and Lane are going to do some good things this year. Al didn't spend his retirement on this season to hand the team over to a guy he doesn't think can get it done- severence pay or no.
#5
Posted by Thoughts from the Dark Side: Oakland Raiders’ Kiffin working the media to his advantage? | The Raide, August 22, 2008 8:47 AM
[...] Read more. Posted in Commentary, Oakland Raiders | [...]
#6
Posted by OregonRaider, August 22, 2008 8:49 AM
Good article Rob, I am in the midle here. I think kiff does play the press and may be playing games. Some of the things he says seem to go one step too far for that though. It may be a defense mechanism, but I prefer to stay with SpokaneOakfan on this. They probably sit and laugh about all this shit, have a couple beers and make up more stuff to through to the media that they hate, making them look like fools.
By the way, good job Patrick on that radio interview! A permanant link on the side of the home page would be nice.
#7
Posted by Raider Scott, August 22, 2008 8:52 AM
Rob, a real interesting read, I enjoyed it. I think there is a lot of misdirection being run by our team and we are along for the ride. There is some truth in what Information 101 wrote but I think Spokane really hit the nail on the head when he said...."Al didn’t spend his retirement on this season to hand the team over to a guy he doesn’t think can get it done”. I think that really sums up the state of the union. I'm not a Davis supporter but he went out and spent big bucks to improve our team. We may disagree on some of the guys that were paid big bucks but the fact that he spent the money speaks for itself. We all know (Al included) that his days as owner are numbered and he wants to win badly. Why on earth would Al keep Kiff around AND spend so much money knowing how precious time is? We can see how life can be cut short so quickly with Gene Upshaw and I think Al must realize his own mortality. I go back to Spokane’s point, why on earth would Al waste 1 more year just to snuff a 1 year head coach that most of the country had never heard of before last year? I can only guess, like everyone else, that he sees Kiff as a guy who can do it. Kiff has some talent (a lot of potential) and we all recognize it. Is he great? Way too soon to tell, but it sure looks like Davis feels good enough to roll the dice and give the guy one more year. At Al’s age, watching Kiff coach one more year given his own health/age may mean more than we think.
#8
Posted by Rob Calonge, August 22, 2008 9:01 AM
Information101 - Great write up and rebuttal! You ought to think about sending Patrick a 'Thoughts from the Reader's Side' post. Like I said in the post, I really don't know which way the wind blows when it comes to this dilemma. You could very well be right, but I hope you aren't. Good points!
Spokane and Oregon - I have to say that I too have a tendency to think that this is orchestrated. It's so outlandish to me that it must be right?
Thanks to all for stopping by and giving this a look.
#10
Posted by Information 101, August 22, 2008 9:15 AM
Someone else has to take the credit. I am simply educating you a bit.....
#11
Posted by Information 101, August 22, 2008 9:27 AM
I was simply educating the masses....I cannot take the credit....
------ http://alswingman.blogspot.com -------
#12
Posted by Information 101, August 22, 2008 9:32 AM
I cannot take the credit.....
goto: alswingman.blogspot.com
#13
Posted by badass raider, August 22, 2008 2:28 PM
good write up Rob.that was written by a true raider fan! I dont usually leave comments but this one I had to. most writters speculations only cover one side of the fence (the haters). it was almost strange to read an article that has honest opinions, and not some half truth half lie b.s.
#14
Posted by KUSHMAN, August 22, 2008 2:30 PM
good read rob! man as always.. i agree with you. he's totally misleading everyone.. theres some friction there like you said, but yes they both want to win.. bottom line.
#15
Posted by NERAIDER, August 22, 2008 3:06 PM
What I don't understand is this quote from Jerry McDonald.
"’I've covered the Raiders for 13 years and one thing has remained constant. If you’re from a local newspaper, particularly one with an “Oakland” affiliation, and write something about the coach that puts him in a bad spot with the owner, there is a follow-up phone call from either the P.R. department, an administrative assistant or even the coach himself.
You’re inferring the wrong thing. That’s not what I (or he) meant to say. You’re way off base. It was a misquote. You took it out of context. You blew it way out of proportion.
If it’s from the P.R. department, it will be along the lines of, “No, what Lane meant was this . . . ”
It doesn’t happen some of the time. It happens every time. The Raiders are sensitive to how Davis is portrayed and believe, with some justification, he too often takes an unnecessary beating in the media.
Know how many phone calls have come from either the Raiders or Kiffin to say that “Rostergate” is a big mistake?
Zero.
#16
Posted by OregonRaider, August 22, 2008 3:46 PM
NERAIDER,
I read that too. I choose to leave my head in the sand and ignore it. Kind of like a Kennedy that drives drunk. No, really this quote does bother me a bit. Anybody else have a take on it?
#17
Posted by xobn1050, August 22, 2008 5:51 PM
Information 101
You wrote a lengthy column and for what I could understand on my humble way is that you believe any rumor posted by any of these media outlets that critics the Raiders and Al Davis. By the way I felt you were really Mike"Fox in the Henhouse" Lombardi or Mike"Al Davis still owes me" Shanahan. Don't you think that if Al Davis really was upset about Kiffin he would be gone? What is one million dollars after al the money he spent in contracts this year? If Kiffin was not of his liking, then why take a chance on a coach that he doesn't trust? You already know about the 300lbs QB and all the ex-Raiders blasting the team after being released or let go in free agency but not doing so when they were on the team? So how can you have "sources" tell you about what goes on when there are meetings about the team and denying them entrance? I haven't heard or read anything about this and would like to find about that. Where did you get that information? People can post any information but wouldn't you read first if it comes from a reliable source with some persons name as the author?
#18
Posted by Rob Calonge, August 22, 2008 9:04 PM
NERAIDER & OregonRaider - Sorry for the late response, but that is a very interesting quote from J-Mac. Again, let me just say that even though I trust this to be true, it can be taken both ways as well. i.e. - The Raiders aren't calling him because it is true OR The Raiders aren't calling him because they want the world to THINK it's true. BTW - I've written so many positive articles and I'm still waiting for a phone call from the PR department. :-(
Honestly, I'm at a loss for an answer to that. I'm hoping that it's the later of the two.
badass raider - Thanks man. That means a lot. I appreciate you breaking your code of silence to tell me.
Kushman - Thanks for the props. I agree, both men want to win and maybe they have different ways of doing it, which causes the friction.
xobn1050 - You make good points. That's mainly why, when it comes to facts, I put more stock into the articles written with a name behind it. When it comes to opinion and analysis, that's a different story. I think that Information101 was giving analysis and his analysis is valid in my opinion, just as I think yours is too. I don't think anyone really has the facts...except for Al and Lane. If I had them, you can bet I'd tell them...which is probably why I don't dang it. :-)
Thanks for stopping by everyone!
#19
Posted by pdxjoe, August 23, 2008 10:06 AM
Has anybody noticed the "deer in the headlights" stare Kiffin has in the NFL Network spot. That say's everyhting we need to know.
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