(Note: Got a lead item for the blog? Send it to jmcdonald@angnewspapers.com. I’ll post infrequently until the days preceeding training camp, so it’s your show).

By Coach Sean

This year could be one of the most pivotal years in Raider history. A franchise that has stood for greatness and tradition, pride and poise, commitment to excellence and yada, yada for so long (more appropriately so long ago) has fallen into it’s self-made Black Hole, finding itself on the cusp of irrelevancy.

The man who has been chosen THIS year, to return the struggling franchise to greatness is Lane Kiffin, son of Monte, co-coordinator of Pete Carroll’s mighty Trojans. His youthful energy has brought an air of excitement, a fresh aura, a sort of shot in the ass to a franchise that loves to embrace it’s misery.

The Raider Nation is alive with his enthusiasm. It’s infectious. On top of that, the savior has drafted the next best thing since peanut butter and jelly in JaMarcus Russell. Raider Greatness, as Big Al always says, is truly in it’s future.

Kid Kiff, the savior! And why not? The guy is born of football pedigree. His father coaches one of the best defenses in the league. He is the boy wonder who orchestrates the most explosive offense in college football. Kiff brings with him a 21st century offense, zone-blocking, quick passes, big plays, gadget plays, runs around in practice with the energy and passion and fury, that’s eerily similar to the great Jon Gruden.

Oh how the Raider Nation misses ol’ Chucky. He’s only 32 years-old, what an accomplishment, think of what he can do by the time he’s 36! And hey, Big Al is the pioneer, the messiah of identifying young talent, with the pinpointing of the likes of Madden, Gruden, Shanahan. This is perfect, it’s gonna be big, and the only ones who know it are those inside the Raider Nation.

But wait it gets better, in his first “Coaches Breakfast” with the national media, the guy’s a star. Peter King, John Clayton all say so, he’s gonna be great! Sean Payton who? Jon Gruden…that old guy?

In all this frenzy, the Raider Nation buries the wounds deep, hiding the scars of the facts that we ARE STILL the Raiders, the same Raiders that haven’t won a divisional game since a freakish snow game in 2004. A team that set a new standard for pathetic offense. A team that despite it’s ranking couldn’t stop anyone when it counted most, with the lone exception of picking off a bell rung Ben Roethlisburger and taking it back 100 yards.

A team that is still run by an owner who resembles Uncle Jr. Soprano with every passing year, more than Boss Tony. A team that was so desperate for a coach, they had to turn to a 31 year-old boy, who didn’t even coordinate the Trojan offense himself (remember, he shared the job with our first choice, Steve Sarkisian) a year after reconciling, then reneging on the biggest and ONLY mistake big Al’ ever made by re-hiring the great Art Shell.

The Raiders can’t block a pee-wee league all star team, they had to draft a 270 pound QB, because he might stand a chance against the wave of defenders crashing into him every play. This, in addition to the fact that we play in one of the oldest stadiums in the league, have a shaky lease with a sue-happy owner in a struggling city, and oh, there’s that product on the field too.

We waited so long that when looking for assistant coaches, we hired some more young guys. Oh sure, we kept Rob Ryan, and a couple of key members of his staff, surely pissing him off in the process, by not selecting him as the next logical choice as head coach, and letting a say, young innovative offensive coordinator, like Lane Kiffin just concentrate on the pathetic offense while he got his NFL wings.

No, better we hand over the whole enchilada to the young lad, and set him up to fail . . . that’ll be better. Need we touch on more? This my fellow Nation, stands for all that the great Raider Nation is unwilling to grasp, because surely, it’s too horrid to be true, so it is denied, obscured by the blinders of new found faith.

This bringing us to the pivotal stance on 2007. On the surface one could take either stance, and surely your stance is influenced by your own love or hate for the Raiders. The delusion is in the eye of the beholder. Lane Kiffin will prove everyone right or wrong, depending on whether we go 10-6 or 3-13, love or hate, respectively. More likely he will be right in between, because to a degree, the Raiders are not nearly as bad as they looked last year, but like it or not, the organization in the rubble of the 15-49 record since the dismal Super Bowl Implosion has a LONG way to go, too.

It’s not really a case of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but more so, the case of the reality. The reality is there are some good things happening. Kiffin by all accounts seems to have gotten to choose his staff, but the reality is, Al has always given SOME (note I say some) leash there anyway. And hell, what other choice does he have right now. Despite his nervous and robotic initial press conference the guy seems to actually have some personality.

Other good things are the addition of a potential franchise QB, the surely unselfish (sarcasm, in case you didn’t get the memo) renewal of Jerry Porter’s commitment, the retaining of the majority of the defense, and it’s key cogs, nice signings like Rhodes, Carlisle and Sands, the chemotherapy of Moss cancer, the simple fact that some retread like Wade Phillips or Jim Fassell wasn’t the guy sitting next to Corrado Soprano at the podium. These are steps, hell, leaps in the right direction, but the ladder out of the black hole is a tall one.

Many questions remain, none of which will we know the answers to until about mid-November. When will JaMarcus break into the line-up? Was last year’s defense really as good as we might think it was? The line, will it hold, maybe, but how could they not sign more people?

Easy, it’s called “curb appeal”. And the Raiders don’t have any because they’re in the gutter, at 2-14, 15-49, 0-12 (divisionally), nor did they have ridiculous salary cap money to throw around. Curb appeal can be accomplished when Kiffen does the seemingly impossible, and turns around the franchise that’s greatness has all but dwindled out.

So Kid Kiff, the Raider Nation, the football nation, ask and like a child at Xmas, wait . . .Are you the Savior? Or is the Black Hole STILL in denial?

(Note: Got an item to lead off the blog? Take your best shot. E-mail potential lead blog items to jmcdonald@angnewspapers.com. Other than when news breaks, it’s your show from now until the days preceeding the opening of training camp on July 27).

By Jason Villeneuve (jjvill)

Lane Kiffin seems to have earned glowing reviews from both the media and fans, so far, as the new head coach of the Raiders. I throw in the “so far” because everyone knows a Week 1 loss to the feeble Lions will have the Black Hole demanding the new coaches head on a platter.

However, if there is one area where coach Kiffin has received a bit of criticism it has got to be his handling of the offensive line. No big money free agents signed and only one draft pick, third-rounder Mario Henderson, used on a trench warrior.

So Kiff, you’r telling me most of those matadors masquerading as offensive linemen will be back? These are the boys you are entrusting to protect the Raiders QB of the future, JaMarcus Russell? It seems that is the plan and he is sticking to it. At first glance it seems like a ludicrous plan, but I can see a method to the Raider ball coach’s madness.

Raider Nation stand up and repeat after me, “In Cable we trust!” The biggest factor in this entire plan is the hiring of Tom Cable as the offensive line coach. Coaches don’t automatically create talented players, but they can use their system to get the best performance out of an entire unit. By installing his new zone blocking scheme, that is what Cable is banking on. The same zone-blocking scheme that has worked wonders for those Jackasses . . . I mean, the Broncos in Colorado.

If you can’t beat them, join them. It works pretty well for Shanahan and Co. no matter who the linemen or running backs seem to be.

Not only should Cable’s scheme help out the big boys up front, but they will be free of the mess that was 2006. Center Jake Grove is already on record about how difficult it was trying to take direction from multiple sources. Who do you listen to? Your head coach Art Shell is telling you one thing while your position coach, Jackie Slater, is screaming in your ear the exact opposite. Not the way to build a cohesive unit.

Simply removing the antiquated system from last year should get the O-line back to the level of 2004-05. Not that they were world-beaters back then, but they weren’t quite the atrocity we saw last year. I specifically recall how coach Shell expected his linemen to protect their QB until the ball was out. There was no need for a QB to have an internal clock in his head; his line would protect him as long as they needed.

Talk about impossible expectations in this speed-rushing, zone blitzing age of football. Hello, Art? It’s 1976 and they want their schemes back.

I can hear all the haters out there groaning already, but coaches can only do so much. It’s the players that will be doing the heavy lifting. We’re going to depend on that bust Gallery to live up to his No. 2 potential? Why didn’t the Raiders draft more linemen or sign some of those big-time free agents?

Valid questions, my Raider Nation brethren, so let me pick coach Kiffin’s brain again and see what in the world he could be thinking.

Should we trade down in the draft and get that stud OT Joe Thomas? We did that in 2004 and tok Gallery, how about we try picking a franchise QB instead. OK, let’s take a look in the second round for any linemen . . . oh that’s right, we still have Grove from the second stanza of 2004. Let’s go for the TE Zach Miller. We did lose Langston Walker (actually not re-signing Walker for the $20 million Buffalo got him for is a win in my book) so we nabbed Henderson in the third. In later round we drafted other positions because we still have young prospects Boothe and McQuistan from last year’s draft.

My point is the Raiders still have five very young offensive linemen in the mix, four who have experience, and it is too early to give up on any of them, even Galery, my longhaired hating friends.

Believe me when I saw I’ve grown impatient with the Iowa farm boy, too, but sometimes linemen take time to develop. Can everyone say Lincoln Kennedy?

The Raiders have to give this group a chance working under the same system for a year or two. Besides, cohesion as a unit is more important than individual play up front. If this group can jell together quickly, Kiffin won’t have to worry about this unit for a long time.

Now let’s talk about the free agents the Raiders could have spent big money on. Maybe should have pulled a Buffalo Bill and picked up Derrick Dockery for a meager $49 million over seven years. For the same price we could ahve had Eric Steinbach, instead of him going to Cleveland. Big ol’ Leonard Davis went to Dallas for roughly the same amount. I believe I already mentioned the chunk of change L. Walker is carrying in his pockets these days.

Kiffin made a wise decision by not getting into the bidding wars for average linemen at All-Pro prices. Instead, he waited until late in the game and picked up a solid guard in Cooper Carlisle who started for Denver and knows Cable’s zone blocking scheme. He took a gamble with minimum risk on Jeremy Newberry, who could be a steal if his knees hold up.

Looking at the overall picture regareding the Raiders offensive line, I believe Kiffin made some heady decisions. It was bad in 2006, almost unbelievably bad. I mean, 72 sacks, no running game to speak of kind of bad.

Kiffin didn’t panic and blow it all apart only to start from scratch. He tweaked and fiddled, brought in a few new pieces and wil head into training camp with hope _ a hope that he made the right calls on the offensive line because otherwise JaMarcus is going to need a large red cape to distract those speed rushing bulls.

Free agent strong safety Donovin Darius was given a grand tour Wednesday that included a meeting with owner Al Davis, but said he was leaving town without signing a contract.

“The Raiders made me feel welcome in every way,” Darius said by phone Wednesday night. “My wife and I were very pleased. We got to meet the coaching staff, meet Mr. Davis, and were very impressed. We have some decisions to make. We’ll pray on them, and check out all our options before we make a decision.”

The NFL Network reported Darius was visiting Wednesday, anticipating the Raiders would make a strong effort to sign him at the end of the day. Darius said he made it clear he wanted to be more deliberate with his career choice.

Darius, who turns 32 in August, was waived by Jacksonville after playing in just 12 games over the past two years because of injury. Darius suffered a torn ACL in 2005, playing in just two games. He missed the final six games of the 2006 season with a broken bone in his lower left leg, and also had a torn labrum.

Darius is Jacksonville’s all-time leading tackler with 858 stops and is one of the league’s most respected players on and off the field. He was named to commissioner Roger Goodell’s six-player advisory committee in the offseason, and for the previous four years was vice president of the NFL Player’s Association. He was the Jags’ player rep for the last four years _ interesting in light of Oakland’s recent penalty from the NFLPA for excessive contact during offseason practice.

It’s no slam dunk Darius would be worth the risk, despite his character. The Jaguars didn’t feel strongly enough about his ability to hold up to pay him the $3.5 million in salary he was due in 2007.

Nine seasons as an enforcer can prematurely age a strong safety. But experience and knowledge can count for a lot, as the 49ers learned when they cut loose Ronnie Lott and the Chargers discovered when they thought Rodney Harrison was finished.

The Raiders, in fact, visited with Harrison after he was cut by San Diego and made no serious effort to sign him.

The fact that Darius was in town at all is further evidence that Michael Huff, the safety drafted No. 7 overall in 2006, is not long for strong safety, while at the same time putting popular veteran Stuart Schweigert on notice regarding his future with the team.

Huff played at strong safety last season, but has the body-type and instincts that appear better suited to free safety. He said this offseason he hoped to bulk up to 206 pounds, which probably means he played the most physically demanding position in the secondary in the high 190s.

During minicamps and OTAs, Huff and Schweigert took turns playing the deep safety role, with the other moving into the box or shadowing the tight end. Huff said the safeties were staying on the same side, with the alignments determined by the positioning of the opposing tight end.

A team which has loaded up on cornerbacks in previous years, often at the expense of safeties, the Raiders moved Darnell Bing from linebacker to safety, acquired free agent Colin Branch and drafted Washington State’s Eric Frampton in the fifth round They join Huff, Schweigert, special teams ace Jarrod Cooper and returnee Hiram Eugene going into training camp.

The ultra-soft penalty handed out to the Raiders for overdoing it during OTA and minicamp practices reinforces the fact that Lane Kiffin is running things his way and not waiting for instructions from Al Davis.

Davis handed the ball to Kiffin, and the rookie is running with it.

Too hard, and too fast, maybe, but he’s running with it just the same.

Since Kiffin took over for Art Shell, the Raiders have done the following:

– Dumped Randy Moss, the kind of stratospheric talent Davis craves, for a fourth-round draft pick.

– Instituted a zone, cut-blocking philosophy Davis abhors. Davis’ idea of line play is similar to his philosophies on defensive backfield play _ man-on-man, may the best man win.

– Brought back a derivative of a “West Coast” system which features a moving quarterback, rather than the drop-back, play-action pocket system Davis returned to by hiring Norv Turner and then Shell.

– Have a coach which all but spat at the notion the Raiders get a bum deal from the referees, scoffing at the idea the color of his team’s jerseys has anything to do with the amount of penalties assessed.

– Took tight end Zach Miller in the draft. Miller is _ believe it or not _ actually a tight end. Not a converted wide receiver or a former basketball player with prodigous athletic skill.

– Acquired wide receiver Mike Williams as part of the solution for replacing Moss. Williams has ties to Kiffin dating back to his days as a Tampa high school star.

True, Oakland’s defense is run by Rob Ryan. But the move of Darnell Bing from cornerback (correction: linebacker) to safety had Kiffin’s fingerprints all over it.

All these factors are promising on the surface. It’s worth noting, however, that most Raiders coaches get considerable leeway at the start. The ones who survive _ and there has been only one since 1995 _ continue to operate as they see fit and work to implement their plan even if the reviews begin to sour upstairs.

Mike White, Joe Bugel, Bill Callahan, Turner and Shell all talked about how great it was to have an owner who supported them and got them everything they needed to be successful. All eventually cracked when things went bad, with uniquely Raider-like moments which had a lot to do with handling the pressure from above.

White once held a press conference when he took no questions and issued rambling statements. Bugel compared a last-second loss to the Chiefs to the death of his mother. Callahan called his team “the dumbest in Amerca” and stormed out of his final press conference after reading a statement. Turner barely made sense at all in the end and wore the look of a man headed to the gallows. Shell thought there was a “fox in the henhouse.”

Kiffin? He worked his team too hard in practice and got penalized a few weight lifting sessions.

Judging from the statement he released, Kiffin isn’t sorry about anything. The Raiders even released a rare preemptive strike announcing the penalty, as if they were proud of it. Put it on their Web site, too.

Chances are Kiffin knew exactly what he was doing. Offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, line coach Tom Cable and Ryan no doubt told him this wasn’t survival of the fittest at USC, and that he was running the risk of sanction.

Davis saw the film, and it’s said very little gets by the owner in that area.

Kiffin did it anyway, and in so doing sent a message about what training camp will be like come July 27. Better be ready to work.

According to one source, the Raiders penalty started with a complaint from a player or players. It went to the union, which can use film and request documents such as call sheets and schedules, to make a determination.

We’ll probably never know who blew the whistle, and it’s not fair to speculate unless you know for sure. Kiffin probably figures that anyone who has a problem with the workload won’t survive training camp, anyway.