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Al Davis fires Kiffin, names Cable interim head coach

Football Betting Lines

09/30/2008 - Alameda, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis finally pulled the trigger Tuesday and fired embattled second-year head coach Lane Kiffin while naming offensive line coach Tom Cable as interim head coach.

Davis fired Kiffin without pay via the telephone and explained the reasons behind the firing and addressed several issues he had with his former coach in a Tuesday press conference.

"I called Lane and told him that he no longer is the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, and I was dismissing him with cause. I just couldn't go on much longer with what I would call the propaganda and lying that had been going on for weeks, months, a year," said Davis, who did not allow Kiffin to meet with the team prior to his dismissal.

The saga may very well continue well past Tuesday, with Kiffin's remaining salary an issue that could lead to him filing a grievance with the league.

Davis went out of his way to say that Kiffin's firing was not performance- based, because he knew he had hired an inexperienced coach in Kiffin. In the press conference, Davis portrayed Kiffin as a liar and malcontent, accusing the former head coach of attacking players publicly -- which, combined with multiple other instances led to Davis' action.

"I wanted to make it work," Davis said. "I'm not firing him for anything other than cause.

"It's not a personality conflict. It's flat-out lying and bringing disgrace to the organization," Davis continued. "(Kiffin) took a young coach that criticized him, suspended him, and didn't tell me about it. I didn't think I could win anymore based on what he's done to the staff. It didn't have anything to do with winning, (Kiffin) is a flat-out liar."

Davis had been contemplating moving on from Kiffin since the offseason when he reportedly prepared a resignation letter for Kiffin to sign -- something Davis took issue with Tuesday, putting the alleged letter on an overhead projector and reading selected passages. Davis said he drew up a letter in the event Kiffin decided to resign.

"I never sent a resignation letter," Davis explained. "After the season (Kiffin) said he didn't want (defensive coordinator) Rob Ryan. I said 'We're going to keep him.' I didn't want to change the entire defensive staff, and (Kiffin) said 'I can't win with this guy. I can't win with this team.'

"I said 'If you don't think you can win, resign.' He was after a job in college that he didn't get (Arkansas). Lane was upset about it and went after some other job. I said 'Lane, if you're going to resign, I will certainly let you go after this season.'"

Reports then surfaced that Kiffin was gone after the Raiders suffered an embarrassing season-opening 41-14 drubbing at the hands of division-rival Denver.

"For weeks we've heard on TV that there has been no communication between Al Davis and Lane Kiffin except before the Denver game. Totally untrue. We talked several times," Davis said.

But, Oakland rebounded with an impressive 23-8 win at Kansas City in Week 2, giving Kiffin a reprieve. Consecutive losses to the Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers dropped the Raiders to 1-3 and put Kiffin back on the hot seat.

Davis' decision to elevate Cable to interim head coach represents the fifth head coach in the past six seasons for the Silver and Black.

"I wanted to make it work. I didn't want to admit I made a mistake. It hurts because I picked the guy, I picked the wrong guy," Davis said of Kiffin.

Cable, 43, joined the Raiders as offensive line coach prior to the 2007 season after a one-year stint in the same position for the Atlanta Falcons. From 2004-05, Cable was both the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at UCLA. His only prior head coaching experience was from 2001-03 at the University of Idaho, where he also played four years as an offensive lineman.

"We have a good football team, make no mistake about it," Cable said. "We are moving forward and will take this football team where it needs to go. We have a good staff, good players; it's up to us to win football games."

Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Knapp will take over the play-calling, now that Kiffin is gone, and will work side-by-side with Cable.

Kiffin guided the Raiders to a 4-12 mark in his first season with the club in 2007.

Prior to leading the Raiders, Kiffin, the son of Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, was an offensive coach under head coach Pete Carroll at USC from 2001 to 2006, with the last two seasons spent as the offensive coordinator for the Trojans.