Wire Watch, 10/5
The Oakland Raiders’ trigger-happy czar Al Davis put a cap in another coach Tuesday when he fired Lane Kiffin, Lincoln native and son of former Husker player and defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.
The younger Kiffin lasted only 20 games as head coach, leaving with a 5-15 record.
Davis, now 79, has hired and fired nine different coaches since the end of the 1987 season — two-time Super Bowl winner Tom Flores, Mike Shanahan, Art Shell, Mike White, Joe Bugel, Jon Gruden, Bill Callahan (that name’s familiar around here, isn’t it?), Norv Turner, Shell again and now Kiffin.
Shanahan, who has since won two Super Bowls in 14 years as coach of the Denver Broncos, was amused by the similarities to his firing by Davis shortly after the start of the 1989 season:
“I was a little disappointed, to be honest with you. When you take a look at it, I was there 582 days. Lane Kiffin was there 616 days. So, what it really means is that Al Davis liked Lane more than he liked me. I really don’t think it’s fair. I won three more games, yet he got 34 more days of work. That just doesn’t seem right.”
Sometimes adults say and write the darnedest things:
Paul Newman, the late actor/race-car driver and owner: (when asked by Playboy if he was ever tempted to stray during his 51-year marriage to actress Joanne Woodward) “I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?”
Vijay Singh, 45-year-old pro golfer: “The older you get, the harder it is to feel younger.”
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: (on a Russian sumo wrestler being banned for marijuana) “Just what a guy that size needs: the munchies.”
Dwight Perry, Seattle Times: “Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, fined $25,000 by the NFL for criticizing referee Ed Hochuli, certainly seemed to take it well. Or maybe his plastic surgeon simply put on a happy face.”
Elliott Harris, Chicago Sun-Times: (on John Elway having to propose three times before his new fiancee said yes) “You can chalk up another third-down conversion for Elway.”
Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: “Seriously, not to take anything from Brett Favre’s great day, but those guys in the Wrangler commercial play tougher defense than the Cardinals’ secondary.”
The younger Kiffin lasted only 20 games as head coach, leaving with a 5-15 record.
Davis, now 79, has hired and fired nine different coaches since the end of the 1987 season — two-time Super Bowl winner Tom Flores, Mike Shanahan, Art Shell, Mike White, Joe Bugel, Jon Gruden, Bill Callahan (that name’s familiar around here, isn’t it?), Norv Turner, Shell again and now Kiffin.
Shanahan, who has since won two Super Bowls in 14 years as coach of the Denver Broncos, was amused by the similarities to his firing by Davis shortly after the start of the 1989 season:
“I was a little disappointed, to be honest with you. When you take a look at it, I was there 582 days. Lane Kiffin was there 616 days. So, what it really means is that Al Davis liked Lane more than he liked me. I really don’t think it’s fair. I won three more games, yet he got 34 more days of work. That just doesn’t seem right.”
Sometimes adults say and write the darnedest things:
Paul Newman, the late actor/race-car driver and owner: (when asked by Playboy if he was ever tempted to stray during his 51-year marriage to actress Joanne Woodward) “I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?”
Vijay Singh, 45-year-old pro golfer: “The older you get, the harder it is to feel younger.”
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: (on a Russian sumo wrestler being banned for marijuana) “Just what a guy that size needs: the munchies.”
Dwight Perry, Seattle Times: “Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, fined $25,000 by the NFL for criticizing referee Ed Hochuli, certainly seemed to take it well. Or maybe his plastic surgeon simply put on a happy face.”
Elliott Harris, Chicago Sun-Times: (on John Elway having to propose three times before his new fiancee said yes) “You can chalk up another third-down conversion for Elway.”
Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: “Seriously, not to take anything from Brett Favre’s great day, but those guys in the Wrangler commercial play tougher defense than the Cardinals’ secondary.”
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