FanPost

After Two Years, I've Finally Made Up My Mind

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It's been two years since he came into the organization. I've stuck by him through thick and thin. I've defended him on so many blog posts, in heated debates with fellow Raider fans, and had his back when my family said he should get a pink slip immediately. I've made the excuses. "Look what he took over." "He hasn't had cap space to work with." "It's his first head coaching job it's going to take time." No more. I'm officially not a fan and I'd like to see him gone sooner rather than later.

In 2012, when then defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was hired as our head coach, my initial reaction was probably like 90% of everyone else's reaction. "Who the hell is Dennis Allen?" Then, like so many, I immediately got online and started doing some research. I liked what I saw, I'm not going to lie. "Oh yeah, coming over from the Donkeys to stick it to them twice a year." And, "Oh snap, he's gotten to learn from Dan Reeves, Sean Payton, and John Fox." Oh, and don't forget, "Sweet, our first defense oriented head coach since the greatness of John Madden." Just like everyone else I was cautiously optimistic about the hire but automatically gave my support because he was the new head coach of my beloved Oakland Raiders. Even after two sub par seasons at the helm I came into this season with the same cautious optimism and fading confidence.

I've always been a little irritated by DA's lack of passion on the sideline. It's something that constantly hasn't sat well with me. And his press conferences are so generic and vanilla they're not even worth watching anymore. He sounds like a politician most of the time, and always somehow manages to talk for 30 minutes without saying anything worth listening to. Oh, and another thing. That goddamn visor, and those fucking sharpies. Buy a real hat, and put the pens in your pocket. For fuck sake.

There was a specific incident that happened during the Raiders week two preseason victory over the Detroit Lions that pushed me completely over to the "Nay" side of the aisle. Quarterback Matt McGloin threw a beautiful pass to tight end Scott Simonson late in the 4th quarter on what would have been heroic throw and catch. After Simonson was initially slowed down by a Lions tackle, a second Detroit defensive back lowered the boom with one of the nastiest helmet on helmet blows of the NFL Preseason so far. And you know who showed the most emotion in the moment? Matt McGloin. He was clearly pissed off and gave the refs an earful. The TV coverage panned to the sideline for just a few seconds and I didn't get a good look at DA's attitude during the whole series of events. But what initially came to mind was, if he was reacting in a noteworthy way I'm sure they'd be showing it.

Even then I maintained neutrality, and gave him the benefit of the doubt. But after talking to Raider fans that were at the game, two of which were right behind the Oakland bench my assumptions were confirmed. He showed nothing. I quote aforementioned fan, "He looked a little pissed but he was pretty chill about the whole thing." Nope. Not my cup of tea. You've got to stick up for your guys. For no other reason than team morale. As a player, seeing the coach not have your teammates backs you lose confidence in him in my opinion. It's like your dad seeing you get blindsided and punched in the mouth as a kid, and he says nothing. Maybe I'm being a little over-dramatic. But, I'm over him and I want a divorce. What has he done to convince me otherwise? Especially if we win less than 6 games this season. It'll be time for him to go. I feel the winds of change blowing already. He's got my minimal support for now, only because he's the coach, but barring a miracle, I've made up my mind.