February 10, 2006

Raiders look to the past for a coach,: with Art Shell taking the job. The last time Shell coached the Raiders was in 1994, when he was fired by Al Davis. This hiring came, of course, after several candidates turned down Davis, who many call the real coach of team. The ol' Silver and Black don't have the luster they once had, so good luck to Shell in his second go-around with the team. He'll need it.

posted by donnnnychris to football at 10:56 PM - 24 comments

As long as Al Davis is in charge, they will SUCK.

posted by daddygehrs at 11:15 PM on February 10, 2006

Well, at least the Raiders have a few WINNER'S Super Bowl rings, the Chargers have..let' see...none! Best of luck to Al, Art and the Black and Silver.

posted by steelergirl at 11:22 PM on February 10, 2006

Best wishes Art, because despite all that talent...all the skill players don't mean squat if you don't have the right offensive line (just look at Houston)...

posted by chemwizBsquared at 11:26 PM on February 10, 2006

As an Oakland fan, good luck to Coach Shell and the Raiders, they need alot of work.

posted by chadleslee at 11:37 PM on February 10, 2006

Raiders suck and always will as long as Al is in charge. Randy Moss killed his career when he was traded to Oakland. Raiders suck bad

posted by sgtcookzane at 12:24 AM on February 11, 2006

Sounds to me like Shell sort of took the 'if you can't find anyone else then I'll take it approach'. Seems strange to me. Oddly enough, I think he could make a difference. That place is a mess and he brings a certain amount of team mystique with him. Old school credibility. Prediction, tomorrows headlines will read, "Shell Shocker"

posted by geekyguy at 01:05 AM on February 11, 2006

As long as he brings back the old Silver and Black toughness I don't see the Raiders going anywhere. Right now they are a bunch of pansy's running around in thier tu tu's

posted by BigDogintheCity at 01:40 AM on February 11, 2006

The Raiders coaching situation reminds me of the Cowboys after Barry Switzer. Jerry Jones wanted a big-name coach to take the job, but everyone was leery of the owner, so he hired Chan Gailey and then Dave Campo. Art Shell was wrongly fired by Davis after compiling a 54-38 record and reaching the AFC championship in 1990. He should have gotten a second chance to coach in the past decade, but owners kept hiring less-accomplished retreads like Steve Mariucci and Norv Turner. I'm glad he'll have a second chance.

posted by rcade at 07:17 AM on February 11, 2006

art shell...he was a good coach but davis just needs a yes man

posted by swendell at 08:06 AM on February 11, 2006

art shell...he was a good coach but davis just needs a yes man Art Shell seems to be the one man not afraid to stand up to Davis. Hence his being fired the first time in Okland. Shell may just be the guy that can turn that program around.

posted by Folkways at 10:13 AM on February 11, 2006

oh................nice move Al...idiot!

posted by Fan at 10:15 AM on February 11, 2006

It's a crime that it took Art Shell this long to be a Head Coach again. It's a shame it's for Al Davis again.

posted by mick at 10:16 AM on February 11, 2006

Hey, if Art brings in Bill Romanowski as the strength and conditioning coach, the Raiders will kick some serious ass!

posted by wingnut4life at 10:18 AM on February 11, 2006

This is a great public relations move that I predict RaiderNation will be inspired by. Inspired to renew those season tickets and seat licenses. A serious consideration in a stadium that has problems filling to capacity despite the major market they are located in. I'm pretty sure there West Bay brethren have no such issues. For those of you not paying attention, Art Shell was fired by the Raiders. He was not fired by Oakland. His entire coaching tenure was while the team was in Los Angeles. Just sayin'.

posted by geekyguy at 10:43 AM on February 11, 2006

WINGNUT...YOU DA MAN! Ken Whisenhunt may be the smartest man in America! Turning down the job was his best move. Why dump the Steelers, move his wife and kids to that shithole city called Oakland, just to lose with a half assed bunch of talent and then get canned before seasons end. The players that played for Shell in the past seemed to like him and his take no shit attitude. Thats what the Raiders need now! Old Norv was a bonehead move on Al's part. Turner has NEVER won anywhere he has been. Now after Whisenhunt turned down Davis, Al hired Shell after changing the Raiders motto to "JUST TAKE THE JOB BABY". Sadly the bottom line is you cannot win with second rate players with bad attitudes. GOOD LUCK ART...YOU'LL NEED IT!

posted by CountDracula58 at 10:49 AM on February 11, 2006

Glad to see Shell get his second chance. Discipline seems to be just what Oakland needs right now. And, if you look closely, his only losing season with the Raiders was his first year (12 games at that).

posted by RScannix at 03:30 PM on February 11, 2006

I'm happy to see Art get another chance. It will be more of a concern to fix the defense that is just plain soft. Art is an ex- O line guy and he will get that group back to respectibility with Gore and Gallery injecting new blood. Good luck Art you will surely miss having the Vick factor.

posted by Robgtg at 03:43 PM on February 11, 2006

My understanding is that Davis must approve all assistant coaches which means he picks them. He also micro-manages the team like no other. What do they need a head coach for? Obviously any Oakland head coach is there to deflect blame away from Davis, the real head coach.

posted by STLCardinalfan at 04:52 PM on February 11, 2006

Davis better take a page outta Jerry Jones' (Cowboys) playbook i.e. stay in the owner's box and leave the coaching to the coach. They are both dicks.

posted by chrisly13 at 08:27 PM on February 11, 2006

Ok, so I'm a Broncos fan but do any of you Al Davis haters know the first thing about him?

  • Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductee, 1992
  • Presenter for a record eight Hall Inductees
  • Coach of the Year, 1963
  • The first recipient of the NFL Players Association's Retired Players Award of Excellence
This and more information on the Raiders website. I found this after catching an interview on Sporting News Radio where the football expert alleged that Al Davis is a high school dropout. Whatever you think of the guy there are plenty of long-time NFL franchises that wish they had the number of winning seasons that the Raiders have had. Not my team but I respect them.

posted by geekyguy at 04:04 AM on February 12, 2006

Ok, so I'm a Broncos fan but do any of you Al Davis haters know the first thing about him? Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductee, 1992 Presenter for a record eight Hall Inductees Coach of the Year, 1963 The first recipient of the NFL Players Association's Retired Players Award of Excellence And in conclusion, he's still an idiot.

posted by STLCardinalfan at 07:22 PM on February 12, 2006

Unless you can back that up with proof that kind of talk is slander. A. It would be libel, not slander. B. It's not provable or disprovable, so it's not either.

posted by yerfatma at 11:53 AM on February 13, 2006

I have no personal animus toward Davis -- I don't know enough about him to understand why so many do -- but it's gotta be tough to go back to a job you'd been fired from. And it doesn't help that Shell will have to put up with some of the prima donnas in that locker room. (I'm dreading the morning I read that Davis signs T.O.)

posted by alumshubby at 01:48 PM on February 13, 2006

Maybe you are confusing his appearance as a guard in The Longest Yard remake from last year. To recap, movies are often pretend. Asshole. pantheon - feel free to delete this along with the comment I'm referencing posted by geekyguy at 4:11 AM CST on February 12 Well factually I could not have been confused, as I prefer to not watch painful remakes of Burt Reynolds' movies. I apologize for not putting IMO on my statement. I don't really care where Romo is and I really don't think he cares that I think he's an asshole. (Pantheon, I do apologize if I can't say asshole in this forum I'm still kinda new and my new friend GeekyGuy seems to think I cannot, so if not I will substitute friend for asshole). My friend GeekyGuy, Ironically enough it is a movie reference I was making with the CA Penal remark. I would strongly recommend Major League for you to watch before it is remade this summer starring Adam Sandler and the dude who played Stiffler. Didn't mean to go all Dennis Miller on you and make references over your head and I apologize. I should have realized that as a Romo fan you are very lacking in many cerebral functions outside the basic motor set and given you the benefit of the doubt. I didn't mean to influence anybody, and if I did I apologize. That last sentence is another movie reference FRIEND. Thanks YERFATMA you are not a friend.

posted by sumokenobi at 04:16 PM on February 13, 2006

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