Jonathan Says

NFL

For many people, the saying “out with the old, in with the new” goes hand in hand with a new year. I suppose, since Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis is Jewish, he felt it appropriate to fire head coach Lane Kiffin on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year). It’s no surprise that Davis gave Kiffin the axe-the Raiders haven’t exactly been world-beaters since the 33-year-old took over as head coach, but the manner in which it was done doesn’t sit well with me. Davis doesn’t exactly have a great track record with his hiring and firing patterns, but this one reeks. If Kiffin was going to be on such a tight leash that he could be fired four games into the season, he should have just been let go at last season’s end. At least that way Kiffin would have had the opportunity to throw his name in the mix for a number of the high-profile coaching vacancies. Also, let’s be honest, a 33-year-old has no business coaching an NFL team. How much respect can a man who is the same age of many of the players get? Davis shouldn’t have put Kiffin in that situation, and Kiffin was silly to accept. My advice to Kiffin: go back to college football where you belong and you shall prosper. My advice to Davis: Get all of your hiring sins out of the way on Yom Kippur and find someone who can take Oakland back to the top.

With that out of the way, I don’t feel quite as bad for Scott Linehan, who was fired by the St. Louis Rams. The team’s 0-4 start hasn’t exactly been inspiring and last season was a disaster as well. The good news for Rams fans is that interim head coach Jim Haslett has made the smart decision in bringing Marc Bulger back off the bench and letting the veteran quarterback get the job done. Haslett has prior head coaching experience with New Orleans where he had limited success, but the coach has the perfect opportunity to turn it around with St. Louis.