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Raiders Accept Blame, Move On Without Allen

Published

10 years ago

October 1, 2014

Oakland, CA – Dennis Allen was asked by a reporter after the loss in London, if he thought he would return after the bye week as the head coach. He replied,”Yeah. That’s not my concern right now.’” After an eleven hour flight from London, Allen got a phone call late Monday night from General Manager Reggie McKenzie relieving him of his duties as head coach.

TheRaiders are 0-4 and currently in their bye week. Why did it take losing four games to start the season before any kind of action was done. If Oakland’s motto is to just win than why not react sooner than later to avoid the process of hiring and firing coaches, especially during the season.

“Now going 0-4, the way we went 0-4, it was time to make a change,” said McKenzie. “Whether it was in London, it doesn’t matter. It was time. To answer your question, the thoughts started to come at that point.”

Yesterday McKenzie and new interim head coach Tony Sparano held a press conference, both addressing that drastic changes will be made to their system. While there’s been no time to adjust to the latest events that took place just one day after an embarrassing loss at Wembley Stadium. The Raiders will move quickly in notifying the players today and prepare a new game plan to finish the season.

“Obviously we haven’t had any time to sit down since we returned from London and talk with our team,” Sparano said. “You can’t keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result. That’s got a different definition in my book.”

Oakland came close to winning one game since the season started and that was two weeks ago against the New England Patriots. Other than that, the Raiders have just looked bad. Veteran cornerback Charles Woodson blatantly said, “We suck! We’re just not good.’” Many others have shared the same views throughout the season.

So, what about Allen’s staff still being on payroll despite horrible play calling last week. McKenzie, Sparano and owner Mark Davis (who watched silently in the back of the press conference) feel that there’s still hope left to this season. However, the goal remains in finding a head coach that can help this team win games. But the priority right now is to focus on winning and turning things around.

“Step back or step forward, you never know,” said Davis. “Results are what is going to be the determining factor of everything. Like I said, I think the organization itself is in a very good position to move forward whether Tony Sparano brings us wins this year and becomes the permanent head coach of the Raiders or if we bring in another head coach. I believe we’re going to have another 60-65 million in space next year and so it’s quite an encouraging and enticing thing for a new head coach if in fact we go out to find one.”

McKenzie takes full responsibility on Allen being his guy. He explained that the goal was to win championships. He made the decision to release Allen from his duties after the loss in London. Davis wanted to look more into what the problem could be and left it up to his GM to make the call. However, they all take responsibility for the teams “doom and gloom” season.

“The start of this season was not the way we wanted to go,” McKenzie said. “Now, regrets? Not at all. Going into the offseason, we had a plan and after these first four games, that plan did not materialize. That falls on me, I brought Dennis Allen in to win championships here and to win, period.”

“I want to win some games… It’s time to get this thing right and start moving into the direction we should be,” explained McKenzie.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

Published

1 day ago

December 26, 2024

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Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

3 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

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Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

3 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.