It doesn't matter who Al Davis hires because Al Davis is the problem

At his Monday news conference — perhaps his last as Raiders coach — Tom Cable said he didn’t want to talk about his future. He wanted to talk about Sunday’s game.

Good luck with that. The game is over. The season is history. All that remains is Cable’s future, as in: Does he or does he not get the head-coaching job? Or to be blunt, can he pull a Mike Singletary?

Al Davis is in charge of Cable’s fate — Cable is in a tough position. When it comes to deciding an employee’s fate, Davis has been known to take his time. He’s a slow, methodical decider. While he mulls things over, here are some pertinent ideas and a few impertinent ones.

Davis may as well hire Cable. By saying this you notice I have different standards for the Raiders and 49ers. For the Niners I advised caution, said they should interview a few other candidates even though Mike Singletary did a better job than Cable. For the Raiders, I suggest getting the first live body that comes their way.

Here’s the reason for my different standards. The 49ers are, after all, the 49ers. They are the big cheese around here even if they no longer deserve to be. A bright young coach should leap at the chance to be head coach of the Niners. Look at Singletary — he’d leap across San Francisco Bay to be 49er coach.

But the Raiders are a different story. They used to have a certain cachet, but no more. With the exception of the Detroit Lions, the Oakland Raiders are the worst franchise in the National Football League, near the top of the dysfunctional list. Their coaching job is a plum for failed coaches desperately looking for one more shot or over-the-hill coaches hanging on by a fingernail or young, inexperienced coaches who recently entered puberty.

By these admittedly low standards, Cable is a jewel. His team won three of its final six games, a roaring success judged by the Raiders’ dismal expectations. At no time did he experience a player revolt and, to his credit, the Raiders played hard, if not always intelligently, under his watch.

And, most of all, quarterback JaMarcus Russell really did improve toward the end of the season. Cable gets credit for this — for his belief in Russell and his unwavering patience as the quarterback learned his craft.

Cable has other qualities that should make him attractive to Davis. Unlike Lane Kiffin, he never badmouthed the owner in public. In fact, Cable happily kissed up to Davis, even fired two Kiffin friends for no good reason. Call these firings human sacrifices offered by the eager coach to the demanding owner. Whether they get Cable the permanent job is anyone’s guess, but the twin sacrifices probably played well in the building.

Cable may as well get the job because no coach can do well with this team. By “well” I mean get to the playoffs. Every Raiders coach — Cable or some other guy — is a place holder, someone to oversee the weirdness of the Raiders. The Raiders will not matter or be a serious football bunch until Davis relinquishes that which he won’t relinquish — his death grip over the workings of the Raiders. He is in the way and that’s too bad because once upon a time he was the way.

A rumor has circulated Bill Parcells may ride into town and, with Davis’ blessing, become the Raiders’ football czar taking over the entire organization. With Parcells, things could change fast. As far as the Big Tuna is concerned, we’ll believe it when we see it. It’s hard to imagine Parcells putting up with Raider madness.

More likely, Davis will take his time and pick Cable or he won’t pick Cable.

Another rumor has Davis talking to Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. If he picks Gilbride or someone else, the immediate question you must ask is: Why couldn’t this man get any other job? And then you must ask: What is wrong with this guy? There will be something wrong.

If Davis picks Cable, you say, “Congrats, Tom, I guess.”

For more on the world of sports in general and the Bay Area in particular go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at 521-5486 or lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.