Report: Cable to return as line coach
He originally joined organization in 2007
ALAMEDA >> Tom Cable, the former Raiders head coach who left in controversy, will reportedly return to the organization as offensive line coach on Jon Gruden’s staff.
Cable was recently let go as offensive line coach of the Seattle Seahawks, where he has coached since 2011.
The hire was reported by NFL Media and former Raiders exec Mike Lombardi Saturday morning.
Cable was brought to the Raiders by Lane Kiffin in 2007 and eventually took over as interim head coach four games into the 2008 season. He retained the job the following year, in part because of a 31-24 win over Gruden’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the regular-season finale.
The Raiders finished 8-8 and were 6-0 against the AFC West, a season which prompted Cable to say “We’re not losers anymore.”
The Bucs were bounced from
the playoffs, and Gruden was fired by Tampa Bay. He was out of coaching until being hired by the Raiders on Tuesday.
Cable, 53, had 17-27 record for the Raiders as head coach. He was replaced by Hue Jackson, who was hired to be Cable’s offensive coordinator by Al Davis in the 2010 season.
At Cable’s firing, Davis produced a file of grievances from his stint at head coach and said he had fined him $20,000 per week for six weeks. Cable later sued to recover that money.
In training camp in 2009, Randy Hanson, a Raiders assistant, was the alleged victim of a punch by Cable which left him with a broken jaw. No criminal charges were filed.
Cable was also the subject of an ESPN “Outside the Lines” feature where his ex-wife and a former girlfriend accused him of being physically and verbally abusive.
At the time, Cable released a statement through his agent that he had “only once touched a woman inappropriately” during his first marriage and there was no discipline by the NFL.
Mike Tice has been the Raiders line coach for the past three seasons under Jack Del Rio.
It remains to be seen how Cable will mesh with the Raiders’ highly paid offensive line. The Raiders did their best work in 2016 in power and gap schemes as taught by Tice. Cable is a longtime practitioner of zone blocking, with Marshawn Lynch having his best seasons behind a Cable-coached line with the Seahawks.
Also reportedly (ESPN, Chris Mortensen) hired by the Raiders is Green Bay assistant Edgar Bennett, who will replace Rob Moore as wide receivers coach.