Among Hue Jackson's many catchphrases in 2011, the Raiders' head coach often would say, "The time is now." And Tuesday morning, new Oakland general manager Reggie McKenzie agreed, firing Jackson after one 8-8 season.
"There comes a time when change is necessary," McKenzie said. "For the Raiders, the time is now."
Jackson was shocked, thinking he had owner Mark Davis' backing regardless of who became general manager. But on a day when Davis said he had "patience" as the team's new owner and McKenzie said it would be a "thorough" process evaluating the assistant coaches and players, they fired Jackson hours after the ink dried on McKenzie's contract.
McKenzie said he has a short list of coaches to replace Jackson, and league sources said that Packers assistant coach Winston Moss is at the top of the list. The next head coach will be Oakland's seventh in the past 10 seasons, following Bill Callahan, Norv Turner, Art Shell, Lane Kiffin, Tom Cable and Jackson.
Davis cited the team's "disappointing" 1-4 record to close the season but said it was McKenzie's decision to fire Jackson. McKenzie said he wanted to bring in his own coach and that he had "researched" Jackson and made his decision before meeting with Jackson on Tuesday morning.
Davis declined to address the issue on the record, but several league sources said he was not happy with Jackson's comments after the season-ending loss to the Chargers that knocked the Raiders out of the playoffs. Jackson blamed the players and defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan for the loss, all while saying he wanted a "stronger hand" in the organization.
It was not the best time to voice that, considering Jackson made a "playoffs or bust" trade for quarterback Carson Palmer and had promised to fix the penalty problem. The Raiders set an NFL record for most penalties and penalty yards.
Ripping the players - and seemingly passing the buck - was a blatant no-no under late owner Al Davis, and Jackson might have taken Mark Davis for granted on that one. The younger Davis has been close to and loyal to the players for years, dating back to before McKenzie played linebacker for the Raiders in the 1980s.
When Jackson later asked to be involved in the process to find a general manager, Mark Davis said no.
The decision to fire Jackson was seemingly both Davis' and McKenzie's, but Jackson told Yahoo Sports that it was totally Davis' call.
"It's Mark Davis' football team, and Mark's going to do what he thinks is best," Jackson said. "In the end, I think he said, 'I want to put my own stamp on it,' and he wanted his own coach."
Davis, though, said McKenzie will choose the new head coach and make all the personnel decisions, with the head coach ultimately reporting to the general manager.
Before he died Oct. 8 of heart failure, Al Davis made all the coaching hires and personnel decisions. But as Mark quickly noted in his first time addressing the media as owner, he is not his father.
"Change happened on Oct. 8," Davis said. "The one thing I know is what I don't know. The one thing I did know was I needed to bring the right people in here. ...
"My feeling always has been that if my father wasn't here, we needed someone to run that football side of the building. I needed to find the right person. I truly believe that Reggie McKenzie is the right man for this job."
McKenzie, coming off 18 years working in the Packers' front office, also will gut the scouting department and bring the Raiders' personnel office into the 21st century. The days of ex-players deferring to Al Davis are over, but not all of the late owner's staples are out the window.
"I like big and strong, always will," McKenzie said. "I like speed, too; that's not going to change."
McKenzie, 48, was recommended to Davis by former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, who worked for 25 years with Al Davis on the Raiders. Mark Davis interviewed McKenzie for six hours, with the help of former Oakland head coach John Madden, and that was the only interview Davis did for the general-manager position. He knew he had his man.
McKenzie played linebacker for the L.A. Raiders from 1985 through '88, and the Raiders brought in several of his former teammates for the news conference.
"Guys, this is where I came from. I'm back home now. I'm back home," he said. "As soon as Mark told me, 'We want you for the job,' I couldn't, you know, I couldn't stop smiling."
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