Cable has to be himself, and coach's style fits Raiders
The Shadow
By Cam Inman
Oakland Tribune columnist
NAPA
TOM CABLE IS restoring credibility to one of sports' most ridiculed
positions: Raiders coach.
The Raiders begin practicing today in their first training camp under
Cable. He faces familiar challenges but does so with a confident plan.
Unlike last year's comical yet disturbing scene with Lane Kiffin, this
Raiders coach is embracing his role.
"The most important thing is, I'm going to be me," Cable said Wednesday
on the Raiders' practice field behind the Napa Valley Marriott. "The
model right now is to turn this thing around into a winner."
A year ago, Kiffin turned training camp into another stage to mock
Raiders czar Al Davis. That tawdry catfight, fueled by Kiffin's
insubordinate comments, dragged on through September before Davis fired
the coach and promoted Cable from offensive line coach.
"Last year going into it, I just think every week there was a question,"
linebacker Kirk Morrison recalled of the Kiffin-Davis saga. "It wasn't
about who the opponent was. It was more about, 'Is your coach going to
be here? What do you guys have to do to keep his job? If you guys don't
win, do you think he's going to be fired?'
"These are the questions that had to be answered on a continuous basis
for the first couple of months and all of training camp. That's just
something as players you don't want to hear."
quite a feat considering he followed the short, woeful tenures of Art
Shell, Norv Turner and Bill Callahan (post-Super Bowl, though that game
was woeful, too).
Instead of mimicking Kiffin and railing on Davis' offseason personnel
moves (or lack thereof, in this year's case), Cable is gung-ho.
Well, almost.
Cable wants his youth-laden roster to spend the next four days (all
two-a-day practices) going through an "intense learning phase," echoing
his mantra in spring workouts. It won't be until Monday that Cable lets
players suit up in full pads and hit each other with full force.
In stark contrast, 49ers coach Mike Singletary is scheduling pads for
most of his practices the opening two weeks.
So why isn't Mr. I'm-Going-To-Be-Me allowing the Raiders to be physical?
"We'll do that plenty," Cable responded. "One thing I do know about
football players and humans in general, if your mind's right, the rest
of it kind of fits. You can go beat the hell out of them all you want,
but if they don't know where to go or how to go there in a hurry, you've
got problems."
Considering all the problems the Raiders have endured over the past six
wretched seasons, Cable should go forth with whatever he feels will
rectify the Raiders.
His admiration of the Raiders has never been in question. He's talked
about growing up in Washington as a Raiders fan. He's working here at
his dream job, instead of, say, one at the University of Tennessee.
Cable's commitment to the Raiders really is sinking in as he heads into
his first camp. When he finished out last season as the interim coach,
it was hard to respect his words. That wasn't his fault. The title
"Raiders head coach" had become known more for ridicule instead of respect.
It may have taken a month after the season for him to gain Davis'
official approval to stay on board, but there may not be anyone on earth
more willing to fill a role in which only a few have succeeded (see:
John Madden, Tom Flores, Jon Gruden).
Cable opened his first camp with controversies that often await coaches:
He had a disgruntled veteran holding out (defensive end Derrick
Burgess), a first-round draft pick who hadn't signed a contract (wide
receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey) and an overblown quarterback quandary
(JaMarcus Russell got another vote of confidence as the starter over
Jeff Garcia).
"(Cable) brings the right attitude and an old-school feel, where we're
going to outwork other teams and make sure we grind it out," tight end
Zach Miller said. "We're going to run it first and then throw it to
score points. I'm definitely in favor of his philosophy."
Cable is adding perhaps too much to his workload by opting to call plays
and run the offense. But it's his prerogative, as it should be. He is �
as we now say without cringing so badly � the Raiders coach.