Tom Cable Out As Head Coach

The Raiders announced Tuesday night that they will not be picking up Cable's option on his contract for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. This leaves an opening at the Head Coach position. The question is now, what are their options? The most likely scenario would be to promote Offensive Coordinator Hue Jackson to the Head Coach position. Some feel that he was brought in here this year to eventually take over as Head Coach. This seems most likely since the decision to not pick up Cable's option comes on the heels of several teams showing interest in Jackson as Head Coach. Al Davis is fond of Jackson and most likely wouldn't want to lose him and this might be the best way to keep him. Another option would be to go after a higher profile coach such as Jim Harbaugh or Bill Cowher. Cowher is unlikely to want to work with Davis and Harbaugh might be interested in staying in the Bay Area, and he has mentioned that if he were to leave Stanford, it would only be to take a position as HC in the NFL. The most obvious choice is Jackson and would probably be the best for the team overall moving forward without losing momentum they gained this year. What I don't understand is the reasoning for not picking up Cable's option. He has the team moving in the right direction and went 6-0 in the division. The offense more than doubled their point output from a year ago and their yards per game went up by more than 88 yards/game from last year. They have a ton of young talent and showed improvement throughout the year. This is a team on the rise and the only thing I can figure, other than what I laid out earlier, is that Davis thought this team was a playoff team and Cable didn't get them there. Coaching staffs need more than 2+ years to get things turned around. It doesn't just happen overnight and he was instrumental in changing the atmosphere surrounding the team. I know he will find a job elsewhere if it isn't as a lower position within the organization. There were too many people up in arms about the discussion of letting him go around the league that someone will want to snatch him up. Good luck Cable! You will always be a Raider!