12-29) 22:14 PST -- The offseason was but a day old and already a group of potential Raiders head coaches has emerged. Raiders owner Al Davis will begin interviewing candidates this week, a team source confirmed Monday. The list is expected to include Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, Raiders advance scout Paul Hackett and Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, according to team sources. Former Giants coach Jim Fassel has openly lobbied for the job and went so far as to send Davis a letter expressing his interest. As usual, Davis will decide the next coach, and "he wants to move quickly," club spokesman John Herrera said. Interim coach Tom Cable remains very much in play after finishing the 5-11 season with two straight victories, two sources said on the condition of anonymity. A day after the Raiders (5-11) rallied from 10 points down in the last 10 minutes to win at Tampa Bay 31-24 in the season finale, Cable tried his best to deflect questions about his job prospects to the performance of his players. They won back-to-back games for the first time in more than a year. Cable has an agent, Don Yee, but the coach said that when it's time to meet, it will just be Cable and Davis. He said no meeting had yet been scheduled. "It's what his vision is and where he wants to go," Cable said. "That's all I can say about it. I don't really know any more." As for the competition, ESPN first reported the Raiders will seek permission to interview Gilbride, a former Chargers head coach and an offensive coordinator with five NFL teams. The Giants have a first-round bye in the playoffs, giving Gilbride a small window for an interview this week if the Giants grant permission. If Gilbride is their man, the Raiders couldn't hire him until the Giants' season ends - which could mean February if the defending Super Bowl champions return to the title game. Herrera wouldn't deny the report but said the Giants have not been contacted "to my knowledge. I don't know anything about it." Hackett was head coach at USC from 1998-2000 and served as the Jets' offensive coordinator from 2001-04. He joined the Raiders in the past offseason. Harbaugh was a Raiders assistant from 2003-04 and has maintained a good relationship with Davis. Stanford recently offered him a contract extension, but he has yet to sign it. The Raiders must interview at least one minority candidate to comply with the NFL's so-called Rooney Rule. Wide receivers coach James Lofton has interviewed for the job two other times and was considered for the interim position when head coach Lane Kiffin was fired Sept. 30. Cable, 44, finished with a 4-8 record. Asked if he felt he had done enough to get the job, Cable said, "I'm not going to talk about that today." He credited the team with going 3-3 down the stretch after winning just one of its first six games on his watch. The Raiders had their final meetings Monday, took exit physicals and cleaned out their lockers. Several voiced support for Cable. "He raised the expectations for us," running back Justin Fargas said. "That was evident in the way we played the last two games. I'd like to see him come back. I think he has a lot more to offer this team. It would be good to give him a full season to see what he could do with it." Linebacker Kirk Morrison called Cable "a guy with no ego." He said Cable is not concerned with "getting 500 yards on offense or shutting people out. His thing is, 'Let's just go find a way to win the football game.' " "The guy lives for football," guard Robert Gallery said. "He's a good motivator. I like everything about him. I like the system. I hope he's the head coach." The Raiders have had five head coaches since their Super Bowl season of 2002. None has won more than five games in a season. Cable said it took him longer than he had expected to change "the culture of negativity" that had gripped the team. "I thought I could come in and just grab it and beat it up and take it out," he said. "And it didn't work like that. And that's really the only thing that I regret - just how long it took to get their mind-set changed." Possible picks Kevin Gilbride, offensive coordinator for the New York Giants since 2007 (quarterbacks coach from 2004-06); head coach (Chargers 1997-98, went 6-16); offensive coordinator (Jaguars, Oilers, Steelers, Bills). Jim Harbaugh, head coach at Stanford since 2007; assistant coach (Raiders 2003-04); college head coach (San Diego 2004-06, two Division I-AA titles). Paul Hackett, Raiders advance scout since 2008; offensive coordinator (Jets 2000-04, Chiefs 1993-97); college head coach (USC 1998-2000, Pitt 1989-1992)
Well, you have to look at this as a list of fools that might actually take the job. The reason you dont see any decent names is because they wouldn't touch it.
Hackett would be the worst choice, so I figure thats who Al will pick. UCLA OC Norm Chow is rumored to long for the Stanford HC job, so if they pick Harbough maybe he'll finally get whats supposed to be his dream job.
Obviously, Tom Cable is by far the best candidate. What other coach could have ever come up with the brilliant idea of practicing TD Celebrations. http://www.sacbee.com/raiders/story/1359357.html Good viiibes maaaaaan
If Paul Hackett winds up coaching the Raiders, I'll definitely be drafting McFadden high in my fantasy draft cuz he'll be getting 30 carries a game.
Looking forward to hearing Jeaux tell us about how Hackett is the greatest coaching mind since Vince Lombardi and Jets were stupid to get rid of him.
Frankly the only names in that group I'd accept are Cable and Harbaugh. Gilbride or Hackett and I'll go fishing on Sundays.
it's like they know noone will take that job and they just interview the desperate.......of course how bad off is fassel if he's actually petitioning for it.
To be fair, Al has never gotten in line and gone after big name coaches. Nobody else was interested in Madden, Flores, Shanahan, Shell, or Gruden when he hired them. Doesn't bother me if the guy is unknown as long as he can coach. Any rich guy with a checkbook can go after a Cowher, etc., and there's no guarantee that will work either. On the other hand, true enough that none of the prominent, well-known guys would want the Raider job.
I find the Fassel thing very puzzling. Why has he so fallen off the radar? Yes, his last year with the Giants was very bad, and it was time for him to go, but up to that point his record was 54-41, and he had taken a team to the Super Bowl. Tom Coughlin's record before last year's playoffs wasn't all that different, and now Fassel's persona non grata for 5 years and counting? I don't get it.
Maybe it's because he seems content to sit around and wait for a head coaching offer instead of getting back in the game as an offensive coordinator like a lot of fired head coaches tend to do. With the exception of his stint with Billick he really hasn't done much. Having said that, I do agree that he deserves another shot.
Coughlin didn't get to a Super Bowl at all in his first 11 years of coaching, despite making the playoffs 6 times and having four teams with 11+ wins. As I said, until last year's playoffs, Coughlin was a lot more similar to Marty Schottenheimer than he was to Parcells or Belichick. It just seems that Fassel's awful 2003 with the Giants has made him radioactive.
