Should the Oakland Raiders retain Tom Cable?

December 23, 1:50 AMOakland Raiders ExaminerPatrick Patterson

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Patrick A Patterson
TFDSsports.com

As this marathon season of woe draws to a close for the Oakland Raiders, there are many questions that are hanging over the team. The primary question is whether or not the interim prefix is going to be dropped from the title of Head Coach Tom Cable. Here are the arguments for and against keeping him.

YES:

The Oakland Raiders have been through more coaches in the last six years than Larry King has had wives. It is time to inject some stability into the franchise, and allow him to continue on the path towards developing the younger players that the Raiders are bringing along. He was put into a no-win situation, as the team was deteriorating following the Lane Kiffin debacle. He needs to have a complete offseason to build his team to his specifications, and a chance to build his staff and show what he can do.

The Texans game shows that he could do something that has been lacking in Raiders coaches of late and pull out a strong performance in a late meaningless game. The last time the Raiders did that was in Norv Turner's first year, and that bought him a second year.

Cable is a Raider at heart. He grew up a Raiders fan, and he is passionate about turning around the state of the Raiders franchise and making them winners again.

NO:

Cable is 3-8 since inheriting the team following Kiffin's departure. In most of those losses, the Raiders were obliterated. The play-calling stunk and the players did not seem like they were ready to play. It was painful to see the Raiders on the field and not playing. When a team has problems as widespread and fundamental as the Raiders do, that shows that there are defiencies in the coaching staff, and ultimately that all falls on the head coach's shoulders.

When the players are openly questioning the decisisons of the coach as well as questioning the heart of their teammates -- as has happened with the Raiders -- that shows that the coach has lost the locker room. When that happens, there is no way that coach should be kept.

Ultimately, it will be Al Davis's call whether or not to retain Cable as the head coach. There are reasons why or why not he should remain head coach, but on the whole, it would seem like it would be in the best interest of the Raiders to start over fresh.