We don’t know Hue Jackson personally, we only know of him.
We know he did some very good work this season as the offensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders.
We know before he came to Oakland, the Raiders were the 21st best rushing team in 2009, averaging 106.3 yards a game.
We know after this season, the Raiders were the 2nd best rushing team, averaging 155.9 yards a game.
We also know that he is being very prominently mentioned as the successor to Tom Cable as Raiders coach.
We don’t know Jackson, but we do have some advice for him: If he is offered the Raiders’ head-coaching job, turn it down.
Yes, we know. There are only 32 such jobs in the pinnacle of pro football known as the NFL. We know that owner Al Davis hired him to revitalize the offense and he certainly did that to the running game. And he improved the passing game, from 29th (159.8 yards a game) in 2009 to 23rd (198.8) in 2010.
But off the field, Jackson had to know first-hand what Tom Cable was going through this season. It came out last weekend that Cable had filed a grievance against Davis, who was siphoning Cable’s paycheck over the fines the team received from the NFL for mishandled off-season practices. The funny thing is, Davis is so involved in the Raiders that it is likely he knew about practices were violating NFL rules.
Jackson had to have an idea how strained the relationship between Davis and Cable was, considering Cable at one point this season said they hadn’t talked in three months. And we can read between the lines. While Davis and Cable didn’t talk, we can guess that Cable was waffling about his starting quarterback each week because he was waiting for word on whom Davis wanted to start.
Jackson also has to know that no coach has exited the Raiders’ facility quietly since Tom Flores left in 1987. Among others, there’s Mike Shanahan’s grievance over lost pay, Jon Gruden’s “trade” to Tampa Bay, Bill Callahan’s escape to Nebraska and Lane Kiffin’s public scolding from Davis. Only two coaches – Gruden and Art Shell in the first of his two stints – left with winning records in the past 23 years.
So if Jackson takes this job, as it is expected to happen this week according to the Contra Costa Times, he should do so with eyes wide open. The track record says he won’t last more than two seasons and it won’t end pleasantly.
At least we know Jackson has been warned.
Copyright 2011/Bill Bradley
What do you think? Comment below.
