Just coach baby!

Coaching turmoil leads to team turmoil! No, that’s not the latest news out of Alameda (for once). That’s news from San Diego, where head coach Marty Schottenheimer was dismissed on Monday after another clash with Chargers GM A.J. Smith.

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy you say? The head of the Oakland Raiders Fan Club, Schottenheimer was not. He did manage to lead his team to a 14-2 record in arguably the toughest division in pro football, so his firing is a bit surprising.

NFL insiders say the writing was on the wall, when Schottenheimer refused to sign a one-year extension to his contract and that his relationship with Smith has been tenuous at best. But the word now on the street is that Schottenheimer was let go over a disagreement with Smith and owner Dean Spanos over a decision to hire Schottenheimer’s brother Kurt, as defensive coordinator.

With the Chargers losing Cam Cameron and Wade Phillips, San Diego was left with two huge holes in its coaching corps. The rumor mill alleges that Schottenheimer demanded control of hiring decisions when it came to his coaches. Smith and Spanos disagreed, and the rest is history.

This leads me to the question of the day in Alameda. How much authority has Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin been extended in the hiring department? Has Al Davis given Kiffin the authority to bring in the people that he feels are best qualified for the job?

How much experience has Kiffin even had in the coaching evaluation department? The early signs suggest that Davis has extended a little latitude. Kiffin courted offensive coordinator Greg Knapp at the Senior Bowl in Mobile back in January.

It’s difficult to say how much influence Kiffin has had in the handful of hires that have taken place over the past month. Kiffin was supposedly responsible for notifying former coaches Tom Walsh and Jackie Slater that they were being let go, but that doesn’t mean he had the ultimate authority to decide on the release those coaches.

Certainly any head coach wants to work with the people he finds most comfortable to be around, but how much influence does a 31-year-old first year coach in the NFL have over a guy like Al Davis? Was hiring control part of the deal? Did he even demand it?

Kiffin certainly had no authority over the defensive coaching alignment. Then again, why would anyone want to tinker with the one bright spot in Alameda?

When Jon Gruden was hired by the Raiders in 1998, sweeping changes followed in the coaching ranks. Gruden was reported to have negotiated some control of personnel decisions, but it was never widely know how much control Gruden really had. After achieving relative success at the helm of the Raiders, Gruden’s eventual “trade” to Tampa Bay was expedited by Gruden’s demands for more control of football operations.

In any case, Kiffin has a mighty big job on his hands, and having a mentor like Al Davis isn't the worst thing in the world. At the very least, he's a month ahead of whomever San Diego fills their vacancy with.