Time to Cut Ties with Kiffin?

By NY Raider:

It really hurts me to say this, but in light of recent reports that Lane Kiffin has been absentee from the Combine (or a ghost at best), and considering the blitzkrieg of negative media since the season ended, it may be best for the Raiders and Kiffin to part ways.

At the very least, the Raiders have a real problem with public relations, and have allowed negative perception to overwhelm their offseason. As you might guess, I am a firm believer in the old axiom that "perception is reality."

Of course, just because the media write something doesn’t mean I will perceive it to be true. In this case, I have spent the offseason thus far scouring media reports and listening to, and reading, fan (the consumer) reactions, as well as introspecting my own 30+ years experience as a diehard Raiders fan, and gauging my perception accordingly.

At this juncture, from a public relations standpoint, I must believe that the Raiders want people to perceive they are in turmoil. If so, then job well done. Yet, I can’t believe that this would benefit them in any way, particularly now with free agency and the 2008 NFL Draft quickly approaching.

Is Lane Kiffin so mad at the media or Al Davis that he can’t participate with his assistant coaches on the field during Combine workouts, or even walk through public areas of the facility?

While I was willing to believe the optimists after the Senior Bowl who claimed Kiffin didn’t wear Raiders’ gear because of sponsorship obligations, I refuse to believe that it has carried over to the Combine. Why isn’t he showing his colors?

There’s no valid reason to allow this charade to continue. We need a head coach who bleeds Silver and Black, and who believes that to wear any other colors would be like not dressing at all. We need a coach who is on board and available immediately to help make critical decisions for 2008 and beyond.

It’s quite possible that Lane Kiffin is a victim of misrepresented job authority, or that he has simply overstepped the boundaries of his job description.

As Jerry McDonald put it, “Kiffin is viewed as being stuck in an organization where Davis is essentially the owner, the general manager, the personnel director, the scouting department and the defacto defensive coordinator—all at age 78.”

I grew up admiring Mr. Davis. He is, in large part, the reason I became a Raiders fan. Far be it for me or anyone else to tell Mr. Davis that he can’t perform all those critical functions himself.

Many of us admired Kiffin for calling out the “whole building” after the final game in 2007, and we saw his ambition and believed him capable of returning the Raiders to greatness.

Unfortunately, his ambition wasn’t the greatness of the Raiders’ past, but the greatness that could be the Raiders’ future. That was his undoing.

Note: Thanks to NY Raider for sharing this take. This is the first in what promises to be a series of “guest takes,” with the intent of celebrating the different voices and perspectives of the Raider Nation.