Raiders fire Del Rio
Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio was fired Sunday after his third year when the impressive turnaround job he engineered for his hometown team collapsed with a disappointing six-win season.
Del Rio said owner Mark Davis told him after the team’s season-ending 30-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday that he would not be retained as coach in Oakland.
Del Rio had signed a fouryear contract extension last February after Oakland ended a 13-year playoff drought with a 12-win season.
“He told me he loved me and appreciated all that I did, but felt like we weren’t going in the right direction,” Del Rio said.
Davis said he will not have any other statement until after a new coach is hired, but speculation is already rampant that Jon Gruden will be back for a second Raiders stint.
Gruden was traded by the Raiders to Tampa Bay following the 2001 season and beat Oakland for the Super Bowl title the following season. He was fired by the Buccaneers following the 2008 season and has been in the broadcast booth since then. ESPN reported Saturday that the Raiders were interested in bringing Gruden back.
Del Rio had been the ninth coach in Oakland since Gruden left but the only one to get the team to the playoffs.
Shortly after Davis fired Del Rio, Adam Schefter went on “SportsCenter” and said with conviction that Gruden is going to be the next coach in Oakland.
“It’s simple; you don’t make that move with Jack Del Rio unless you know you can get Jon Gruden,” Schefter said. “Jon Gruden is going to be the next coach of the Oakland Raiders. The only question is when it happens.”
If the Raiders offer Gruden an ownership stake, that part must be approved by other NFL owners.
In Indianapolis, the Colts fired coach Chuck Pagano on Sunday, less than two hours after they ended a 4-12 season with a 22-13 victory over Houston.
Colts owner Jimmy Irsay made the announcement in a statement.
The move came after Indy missed the playoffs for the third straight year, the team’s longest postseason drought since a seven-season absence from 1988-94.
With Andrew Luck missing the entire 2017 season, the Colts had their first losing season since 2011, their second since 2002, and the first in Pagano’s six seasons as coach.
Pagano finished his first head coaching job with a 5646 record, including a 3-3 mark in the playoffs.