The Oakland Raiders have been a franchise in freefall for a number of years and now that the team is heading towards the offseason with another losing record, owner Mark David could be making some changed when it comes to head coach Dennis Allen and general manager Reggie McKenzie and one name that will always come up is Jon Gruden and rumors surrounding him.
Gruden of course was the coach in Oakland at one point years ago and Davis now has some decisions to make, as the Raiders are just 4-9 and in last place in the AFC West and while they have had some flashes this season, it has mostly been another disappointment. Expectations were fairly high this season that the Raiders could compete for the wild card, but five losses in the past six games took any wind out of those sails and now Davis has to look at the direction that things are going and decide whether he wants to keep going on that track.
Both Terrelle Pryor and Matt McGloin have been impressive this season at times and they also have looked overmatched at times and it will be interesting to see what Davis decides about the coaching staff. The team has games in the division to finish the season and while they are out of playoff contention, the Raiders can play spoiler over the last three weeks for other teams. McKenzie is likely safe, as he has had to pare down the payroll and the roster over the past two seasons and now the Raiders are set to make moves this coming offseason, but with Allen not showing much improvement, Davis could make a move, especially if the team matches its 4-12 record from last season.
Davis spoke to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group and ESPN.com reported on the interview and some of his quotes were interesting and while he did not mention Gruden, that's a name that will always come up when it comes to head coaching jobs and especially with the Raiders. Allen is a talented coach, but he will be just 8-24 with the team if they lose out and that is not the best line on his resume and on Sunday the team plays against the Kansas City Chiefs, a team that has bounced from last to first/second in the division this season and that is something Davis wishes his team could pull off.
Davis said that he will evaluate the coaches and McKenzie more at the end of the season and spoke about the "two-year deconstruction" of the Raiders and that will be something he considers while making choices on next season. The team ditched Matt Flynn after that trade did not work out and while they found McGloin as an undrafted free agent, the trade for Flynn was a total loss and while Pryor had some nice flashes, he finished with just five passing touchdowns and 1,579 yards, although he also had over 500 rushing yards. Injuries to Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings has made things tougher and as the offseason gets closer, Davis could think more and more about making a chance and Gruden could be the man to get mentioned.