Cable maybe, Hackett definitely

By Os Davis  |   Wednesday, January 28, 2009  |  Comments( 7 )

Oakland Raiders
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The source has spoken again, and he/she/it in the wee hours of Wednesday night has apparently informed that CNN of the sports world, ESPN.com, that Tom Cable will in fact be the head coach of the 2009 Oakland Raiders. Perhaps fearing his time in the media spotlight is drawing to a close or perhaps merely acting out of reflex, Raiders senior executive John Herrera denied the rumor with his usual efficiency:

"The decision has not been made. ... At some point here we will have a head coach, but as of now that decision has not been made. We are assembling a staff as you know, but a decision on the head man has not been made."

Good to know that Oakland will in fact have a head coach “at some point,” eh?

Meanwhile, outside the land of rumor and innuendo (which is to say in the realm of actual fact), Herrera et al were able to confirm a couple of spots in the coaching staff’s lower echelons as filled: Dwaine Board will become defensive line coach and one Paul Hackett will serve as quarterbacks coach in 2009.

The take on Board is quick and easy: Nice hire here, good steal from Bay Area competition. The man brings a tight resume filled with 13 seasons as D-line coach for the San Francisco 49ers and most recently the Seattle Seahawks; prior to working the sidelines, Board spent the great majority of his eight-year on-field career with the Niners, winning two Super Bowls with San Francisco in the “Hip to Be Square” days.

All in all, nice work there, Uncle Al et al.

Then there’s Hackett. Surely more than a few eyes will be on Hackett in 2009, as Raider fans and NFL enthusiasts alike eagerly await what is nearly taken for granted to be JaMarcus Russell’s true emergence as the stud everyone believes him to be. Congratulations, Mr. Hackett, here’s the job and here’s the weight of the world for your shoulders.

On the surface, Hackett would appear to be the opposite of Davis’ typical desire to eternally chase the fountain of coaching youth, with a coaching career incredibly long and varied. Hackett broke into the coaching ranks way back in 1969 with UC Davis. After holding some low-tier jobs (he was a WR coach for two years at one point) and assistant positions, Hackett landed with the John Robinson-led USC Trojans for the latter half of the '70s.

Hackett has twice been a head coach with a pair of unfortunately mediocre stints to his credit. With University of Pittsburgh from 1989-1992 and USC from 1998-2000, Hackett managed just a 32-38-1 overall record. Ah, some guys just aren’t made to be head coaches, eh?

As for NFL experience, Hackett first broke in with the Kansas City Chiefs as offensive coordinator in the Joe Montana (more on Joe Cool below)/Elvis Grbac years of 1993 to ’97. For 2001-2004, Hackett was with Herm Edwards’ so-so Jets, a bunch that apparently at least a few fans found a bit limp, though it’s difficult to imagine what Hackett might have done to justify a call for the league itself to fire him.

Most recently, Hackett was given a mess to clean up by an old colleague of his from Pitt, Jon Gruden. (Isn’t it funny how everything in Raider Land comes back to Gruden?)

Hackett was reportedly the guy who sold Gruden on Rich Gannon back in the day. After Kansas City ditched Gannon for Grbac, the former came heavily recommended by Hackett: “Kansas City went with Elvis Grbac, Gannon was free to look elsewhere and Paul Hackett's advice and his reference to Gannon was very strong in my opinion. He was dead on."

This advice earned the Raiders a Super Bowl bid, Gruden his second head coaching gig, and ultimately Hackett his last job in the NFL before this week. Hackett was hired on as quarterbacks coach in 2005 in what was portrayed then as a match made in heaven.

“Over the years I've been fortunate to have had some great individual coaches, and Paul is one of the best," gushed Montana in a Tampa Bay Buccaneers Football Inc. press release, going on to describe Hackett as “easy to work with as a quarterback, and he understands the little parts of the game because he has been there.”

Hackett was also reportedly promised a wide role in Gruden’s game planning.

Unfortunately, those Buccaneers teams with which Hackett coached were populated at QB by the likes of Brian Griese, Luke McCown, Chris Simms, Tim Rattay and the immortal Bruce Gradkowski – hardly, like the resultant teams led by this bunch, the stuff of legends. On the other hand, Gruden might have done will to have had Hackett stick around for 2008 in order to talk Chucky out of the bizarre decision to bench Jeff Garcia.

So what do the Raiders have today? Fresh blood of a sort, a West Coast offense advocate, and a grand old man loved by one of the all-time greats. Judgment must be reserved for now, but it seems the Raiders could’ve done worse.

On the other hand, couldn’t they just have hired Montana himself?
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's ...
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