Raiders Firing Allen?

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Raiders settle on Tony Sparano as interim head coach

Posted by Michael David Smith on September 30, 2014, 2:07 PM EDT

Getty Images
Tony Sparano is set to become the Raiders’ interim head coach after the firing of Dennis Allen.

After several conflicting reports emerged over the last 12 hours about who the Raiders would go with as Allen’s replacement, Jim Trotter of ESPN reported on Tuesday that it’s Sparano, who had the title of assistant head coach and offensive line coach on Allen’s staff.

Sparano previously served as the head coach of the Dolphins from 2008 to 2011.

If the reports are correct that Raiders General Manager Reggie McKenzie wanted Sparano but owner Mark Davis preferred Al Saunders, that would indicate that Davis still has confidence in McKenzie’s decision-making. Which is odd, considering that most of McKenzie’s decisions as Oakland’s G.M. haven’t panned out.

The 0-4 Raiders are on their bye week, which will give Sparano some extra time to make whatever changes he deems necessary. Although Sparano will presumably get the final 12 games of the season to prove himself capable of handling the job on a permanent basis, it seems more likely that the Raiders will hire a new coach after the season ends. That coach will be the Raiders’ 10th head coach in 15 years.

[Heatmiser]

10th head coach in 15 years. Is that not a record across all professional sports franchises?

All hail Mark Davis!

TG

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

When this thread is done please add it to the Raiders suck thread!

[Heatmiser]

Supposedly (according to Rappaport from ESPN) the Raiders fired Allen over the phone. Over the phone!

Classless.

TG

[6025]

Raiders settle on Tony Sparano as interim head coach

Posted by Michael David Smith on September 30, 2014, 2:07 PM EDT

Getty Images
Tony Sparano is set to become the Raiders’ interim head coach after the firing of Dennis Allen.

After several conflicting reports emerged over the last 12 hours about who the Raiders would go with as Allen’s replacement, Jim Trotter of ESPN reported on Tuesday that it’s Sparano, who had the title of assistant head coach and offensive line coach on Allen’s staff.

Sparano previously served as the head coach of the Dolphins from 2008 to 2011.

If the reports are correct that Raiders General Manager Reggie McKenzie wanted Sparano but owner Mark Davis preferred Al Saunders, that would indicate that Davis still has confidence in McKenzie’s decision-making. Which is odd, considering that most of McKenzie’s decisions as Oakland’s G.M. haven’t panned out.

The 0-4 Raiders are on their bye week, which will give Sparano some extra time to make whatever changes he deems necessary. Although Sparano will presumably get the final 12 games of the season to prove himself capable of handling the job on a permanent basis, it seems more likely that the Raiders will hire a new coach after the season ends. That coach will be the Raiders’ 10th head coach in 15 years.

Darn it, they were THISCLOSE to hiring Al Saunders.

[Beerman]

AndrewSiciliano: Reggie McKenzie: "I do believe what we put together this offseason was a roster that could win."

How is this guy not committed yet? He's surely delusional.

[Steve]

He will be on his way out soon. He is just smart enough to not answer his phone on the road.

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Sparano says they need to let players do what they do best

Posted by Mike Florio on September 30, 2014, 6:05 PM EDT

Getty Images
The press conference announcing the firing of a head coach and the promotion of a guy the fired coach had hired to serve as an assistant always entails some tightrope-walking by the new coach, who needs to express regret that his boss is gone while also expressing enthusiasm and preparation to embrace the challenge for cleaning up the mess that the new coach helped create.

On Tuesday, new Raiders interim coach Tony Sparano offered a clue as to how his approach may differ from Dennis Allen’s.

“We’ve got a lot of good players here,” Sparano said. “We need to let them do what they do best.”

Assuming for the sake of argument that the Raiders have a lot of good players (quit laughing, Broncos, Chiefs, and Chargers fans), Sparano’s comment could be interpreted as a disclosure that, under Allen, players were expected to fit the schemes. By saying that the Raiders need to let the players do what they do best, Sparano could be saying that he’ll design plays and concepts based on the strengths and weaknesses of the players.

This assumes that the players have enough strengths (and sufficiently few weaknesses) for that to matter.

[Coachmarkos]

That team sucks. I don't care who is coaching them.

Dennis Allen's worst decision was to actually take the job. He probably thought they would turn it around eventually, under a new GM.

He's a good defensive coach. And I hate to break it to some of you, but if the Chargers defense continues to play well, especially considering the injuries, and we make a good run. Pagano will get some looks. His brother is doing well, and he's done more with less than many. Teams are always raiding coordinators from the "hot" team.

I could definately see Allen come to SD in some capacity. And I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing.

[thelightningwill]

Sparano says they need to let players do what they do best

Posted by Mike Florio on September 30, 2014, 6:05 PM EDT

Getty Images
The press conference announcing the firing of a head coach and the promotion of a guy the fired coach had hired to serve as an assistant always entails some tightrope-walking by the new coach, who needs to express regret that his boss is gone while also expressing enthusiasm and preparation to embrace the challenge for cleaning up the mess that the new coach helped create.

On Tuesday, new Raiders interim coach Tony Sparano offered a clue as to how his approach may differ from Dennis Allen’s.

“We’ve got a lot of good players here,” Sparano said. “We need to let them do what they do best.”
Assuming for the sake of argument that the Raiders have a lot of good players (quit laughing, Broncos, Chiefs, and Chargers fans), Sparano’s comment could be interpreted as a disclosure that, under Allen, players were expected to fit the schemes. By saying that the Raiders need to let the players do what they do best, Sparano could be saying that he’ll design plays and concepts based on the strengths and weaknesses of the players.

This assumes that the players have enough strengths (and sufficiently few weaknesses) for that to matter.

Trespassing and pillaging are no longer acceptable behaviors. There's no place for Raiders doing what they do best anymore.

[Panama]

Trespassing and pillaging is no longer acceptable behavior. There's no place for Raiders doing what they do best anymore.

You forgot date rape.

[Viejo Bolt]

OK, the Turds next opponent is the Chargers after their bye week. My guess is they will resurrect the Wildcat with Darren McFadden running it. Sparano is Mr. Wildcat from his Miami days and McFadden has run it before too. With their shitty QBs I can really see this happening.