If you haven’t already read Mike Silver’s comparison of Mark Davis to Tommy Boy, do yourself a favor and check it out. Here it is.
Silver essentially described the younger Davis as Al’s whipping boy who generally regretted even having an opinion around his father. Silver cited former Raiders employees who described this scene just a few years ago:
Back in the spring of 2008, when he was very much in charge of the Oakland Raiders’ singularly peculiar organization, Al Davis presided over a predraft meeting at the team’s Alameda, Calif., training facility. As coaches and personnel officials discussed what to do with the fourth overall pick, which the team would ultimately use to select Arkansas halfback Darren McFadden, the Hall of Fame owner’s son, Mark, casually drifted into the room.
“Mark,” Davis said, stopping the meeting and sounding genuinely interested. “What do you think we should do?”
Caught off guard, the younger Davis mumbled something about needing a wide receiver.
Wrong answer.
“A [expletive] receiver?” Al Davis snapped, his voice rising. “Get the [expletive] out of here.” And with that, the heir to one of the NFL’s most storied franchises slinked out of the room and continued with the rest of his day.
Silver believes the disrespect Al Davis showed him within the organization was a motivating factor to eliminate anyone, including Hue Jackson, who knew the dynamics of his relationship with his father.
But my question is, why would Mark Davis want to keep anyone around from the past decade?
Silver, among others, has made a career documenting the dysfunction within the Raider organization under Al Davis. So when Mark Davis decides to rebuild the Raiders with a clear chain of command modeled after the league’s most successful franchise, why is he scrutinized?
Admittedly, Silver’s biggest issue is with the firing of Hue Jackson.
Hue had alot of people in his corner. He was great with the media, the players, and was quite personable. Popular opinion is that he was an offensive genius, and someone’s going to get a great young coordinator. I generally agree.
But at some point, folks in Silver’s corner need to be more realistic when it comes to Hue.
Did he get a raw deal in Oakland? Yes. Does that make it the wrong decision to fire him? No.
The biggest case to keep Hue around was his impact on the offense. Hue doubled the Raiders offensive output from 2009 to 2010, but how much was that offense bound to improve simply by inserting a competent quarterback? If B.J. Raji started a season at quarterback in Green Bay, you can bet that offense would be a dumpster fire. Obviously that’s exaggerated, but there’s really no way to fully credit Jackson with the Raiders success on offense when Jamarcus Russell was the biggest problem with the Raider offense.
As far as Hue Jackson’s tenure as head coach, he doesn’t have alot to hang his hat on.
His team finished with the same record as Tom Cable’s, led the league in penalties, and became more undisciplined as the season progressed. In a roundabout way he cast the blame for the late-season collapse on players, assistants and Al Davis. The Raiders won only one game by more than a touchdown, and lost 8 games by an average of 15 points. Add that to the fact that Hue often appeared visibly overwhelmed late in games, and GM Reggie McKenzie had every reason to believe Hue had the makings of the next Norv Turner. Ironically, in the season’s defining moment, Hue Jackson was embarrassed by Norv Turner.
Hue is a likeable guy and good coach, but it’s way too early to criticise Mark Davis for wanting to change the culture of the Raiders.
If nothing else it’s refreshing to hear Mark Davis tell reporters in McKenzie’s press conference, “One thing I know, is what I don’t know.”
One thing we now know is Reggie McKenzie will make the football decisions. That’s what General Managers do. Owners that get involved in personnel haven’t fared well in the last decade – see Jerry Jones, Dan Snyder and yes, Al Davis.
So even if the younger Davis does have a little Tommy Boy/Lloyd Christmas in him, I just don’t see the problem with telling his father’s puppets to ”Get the [expletive] out of here.”
It’s unfortunate for Hue because he wasn’t the problem, but there’s enough evidence to support the claim that he wasn’t part of the solution either.
Posted on January 12, 2012
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