Hue Jackson fired as head coach of the Raiders

The Oakland Raiders, coming off an 8-8 season, will have a new head coach in 2012. Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie, who was hired himself five days ago, fired Hue Jackson on Tuesday.

No Raiders coach since Jon Gruden has lasted more than three seasons, nor had any Raiders coach had an overall record of .500 since then, either ‒ except for Jackson. When Al Davis passed, many thought that the instability at the head-coaching position would be a thing of the past, but I guess we're not there just yet.

This makes two consecutive seasons in which the Raiders have fired a head coach who went 8-8. After the 2010 season, it was Tom Cable, the first Raiders coach to have a record of .500 since 2002. This time, it's Jackson, who lost his starting quarterback in Week 6 and star running back in Week 7.

Ultimately, though, this decision probably isn't about anything that Jackson did right or wrong.

Had the Raiders won 10 games and made the playoffs, it would've been harder to let him go, but this is probably a case of a new general manager simply wanting to have his own guy in charge.

General managers are like that. McKenzie, who is well-qualified after having spent eight years as the Green Bay Packers' director of football operations, doesn't have a lifetime contract on his job, either. He needs to win to stay employed, and he wants to win or lose based on decisions he made and guys he put in place. It's understandable in that sense, even if Jackson seemed to have the Raiders going in the right direction.

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