For the past couple of weeks it has seemed all but certain that Tom Cable will lead the Raiders as head coach beginning with the 2009 season. Cable is expected to have the interim tag removed from his job title as early as today, or possibly Wednesday.
Cable, who took over in week 5 after Lane Kiffen was shown the door, has already proven that he can lead the team. Although his win/lose ratio wasn't spectacular, he demonstrated good leadership qualities in the face of extreme adversity. Cable imbued the Raiders with something the team hasn't had in quite some time - Pride & Poise. He taught the players to believe in themselves and to keep fighting until the end.
The Raiders finished their season with 2 straight victories, including a startling upset with a road win over Tampa Bay, which ultimately led to the Bucs missing the playoffs and former Raiders' head coach Jon Gruden and GM Bruce Allen losing their jobs. Cable's influence in the second half of the season formed a solid foundation for which the Raiders can build upon in the 2009 season.
So if Cable seems so right for the job, why has it taken so long to promote him to head coach?
One reason may be that Al Davis wanted to wait until the Super Bowl fanfare had blown over. Al likes to be the center of attention and he didn't want the Super Bowl media coverage to steal his thunder. The other, and more tangible reason, is that Davis wanted to be very particular about the assistant coaching staff that was hired for next season.
The Raiders' past three head coaches were all allowed to assemble their own coaching staff, which Davis now sees as a probable contributor to the team's failure over the past several seasons. This time around Davis wanted to be instrumental in the hiring of assistant coaches prior to appointing the team's new head coach.
Now that many of the important pieces are in place and the Super Bowl has come and gone, expect the Raiders to make a formal announcement within the next 24-48 hrs.
