Al Davis was a coach, and the problem is that is what he still wants to be. He is just one of those owners who has not learned to step away from the on-the-field stuff. Jerry Jones used to be that way, but finally learned it was better to step back and let the coaches do what you hired them to do.
I can't fault Davis too much. The man was a committed owner back in the day, and no one can argue with his past success as an owner. I think the problem is he just did not adjust with the times very well, and always felt that things should just be the way they were back in the Raiders' glory days. Times change. He didn't. The organization has not changed much either. It seems to be run the same way it was back in the 80's when the Raiders were successful.
I worked at the L.A. Coliseum (for the company that ran the food and novelty concessions) from 1983 to 1991. Way back then, the Raiders had a certain way of doing things, and when things changed, they did not adjust very well. One example I remember was that we were told the income the Raiders received off of concessions and novelty sales had always covered their "game-day" expenses. Well, with the move to L.A. and a new contract at the colisuem, and with new NFL rules about revenue-sharing, what they were making at the Coliseum no longer covered their expenses. They had a really hard time understanding why that was the case. They (the Raiders front office people, Al Locasal in particular) just could not understand that times had changed. Another example was that they could not understand why their charges for catering in the press box were so much higher in LA. Well, it was LA, not Oakland. And the number of press in LA is far greater than in Oakland and the Bay area. But, just little things like that were indicative of how out of touch the organization was then, and still is now. They just don't accept change.
Davis needs to step down, but it will never happen until he dies, or becomes incapacitated in some way. Not sure who would take over then. He is the majority owner in the team, but he is not the only owner.
To me it is kind of sad. He was so successful, and now just doesn't have it any more.
Ok, I've bored you enough.
