Davis first, and fires back

ALAMEDA — Al Davis introduced his new head coach, Tom Cable, on Tuesday. Before that, though, he spent roughly 45 minutes publicly attacking the man who preceded Cable. That would be Lane Kiffin, fired Tuesday morning.

After remaining silent for months while Kiffin fired periodic salvoes regarding his lack of input in personnel and defensive strategy, not to mention the difficult work environment created by Davis, the combative owner finally took the opportunity to tell his side of the story. And he left few details uncovered.

“It didn’t have to do with winning,” Davis said of firing Kiffin, who was 1-3 this season and 5-15 overall. “It had to do with personality. It’s the first time I ever let anyone go based on what I call just a flat-out liar.”

As a visual aide to his argument, Davis put up a three-page letter on an overhead projector in a filled-to-capacity auditorium at Raiders headquarters. The letter, dated Sept. 12, amounted to a final cease-and-desist notice to Kiffin. It not only outlined the coach’s perceived transgressions and show of disrespect, it included choice tidbits such as these:

Kiffin did not want to select quarterback JaMarcus Russell with the first pick of the 2007 draft. He went on to state the coach, at various points, argued for taking Brady Quinn or Calvin Johnson, or trading the selection.

Kiffin signed off on all major free-agent signings of 2007, with the exception of safety Gibril Wilson.

Kiffin wanted to replace defensive coordinator Rob Ryan with his own father, Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, after the 2007 season. Monte phoned Davis, but the owner didn’t want to risk a tampering violation.

The correspondence concluded by saying: “This letter constitutes notice that if you further violate any term of your contract, in any matter whatsoever, you will be terminated for cause. I trust that this will not occur.”

In Davis’ eyes, it did occur. After the Week 3 loss to the Bills, Kiffin told reporters he had not spoken to the owner since before the season opener against the Broncos. Davis called this assertion a lie, recounting a conversation he had with Kiffin at the airport following the team’s flight home from Buffalo. In that talk — also attended by a defensive coach, a strength coach and a team publicist — Davis questioned Kiffin’s clock management and personnel strategy.

“I reached a point where I felt the whole staff, we were fractionalized, that the best thing to do to get this thing back was to make a change,” Davis said. “It hurts because I picked the guy. I picked the wrong guy.”

He’s hoping he did well to choose Cable over other contenders such as Ryan and wide receivers coach James Lofton.

Cable, 43, will get his first crack at an NFL coaching job, though with an “interim” appendage. He’s a highly respected offensive line coach who made the Atlanta Falcons the NFL’s top running team in 2006, then revamped the Raiders run game in 2007, turning it from a liability to a strength. He also had successful college stints at UCLA, Cal and Colorado, but was 11-35 as head coach at Idaho from 2001-03.

Cable said offensive coordinator Greg Knapp will call the plays, and Knapp and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo will continue to oversee Russell’s development. Cable will still work with the line, but wants to bring cohesiveness to the entire team.

“I coach that offensive line, but I don’t just live in that little world,” he said. “I don’t go down to my corner and disappear and just wait for them to call us up. ... I go in that locker room, I know who they are, I shake their hand, I talk to them about life, I talk to them about their families.”

For the Raiders’ players, Kiffin’s dismissal represented the end of a frustrating chapter, with constant uncertainty over the coaching situation and pestering by reporters.

“I think everybody saw it coming, so there really wasn’t too much left out there,” cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. “When Al makes his mind up to something, he’s gonna do it.”

Nnamdi Asomugha appeared on NFL Network and said “pretty much the majority of the locker room” wanted Kiffin to stay. Hall agreed.

“I wish Kiff all the luck in the world, I think he’s a hell of a coach,” he said. “From what I’ve seen and what I’ve been a part of, nothing but good things to say. Not a negative thing about it. Nothing but respect for him... for doing it. It was on us as players to help this organization win games. The coach can only do so much.”

For Kiffin, the maneuvers ended a year and a half of uneasy alliance with the man who made a 31-year-old college assistant the head coach of one of the NFL’s storied franchises in January, 2007. But it may have just begun a long legal battle for the young coach. Davis was adamant in firing Kiffin “for cause” because he intends not to pay him the remaining portion of his contract, believed to be in the range of $3 million to $3.5 million.

Kiffin, appearing on ESPN, said he requested to have a final team meeting Tuesday, but was denied. He then settled in to watch a portion of the dramatic news conference.

“It was very painful for myself and my family,” Kiffin said. “A lot of accusations being made there, a lot of information being put up there, and a number of lies. It was very hurtful and it was tough to stomach.”

Early Tuesday, Kiffin told some reporters he planned to stage his own news conference today. After Davis’ highly accusatory address, Kiffin’s advisers changed the plan. It was all part of a very strange day, even by Raiders standards. Someone asked Davis whether he believed Kiffin had been trying to get fired.

“That’s a good question,” Davis replied. “I don’t know what he was doing, but he got me to fire him.”

You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.