David Shaw - Why Didn't The Oakland Raiders Look At A Young Black Offensive Mind?

No matter how it's turned, Lane Kiffin, the new head coach of the Oakland Raiders, comes off reading like a college offensive coordinator and not a head coach. His youth is a constant focus, but far less so is how the Raiders have ignored the idea of looking for young black coaching minds.

The Oakland Raiders have NEVER reached out to a young black offensive mind and they're out there. I'm sick to my stomach of this stupid idea that it's OK for young white men to be smart and agressive, but black men in this category are considered a threat.

People point to Lane's father Monte as a good start for him, like Jerry McDonald of The Oakland Tribune.

BUT Hell! Willie Shaw, an African American who was once the defensive coordinaor for the Raiders, has a son David who was quality control coach for several years for the team and is still coaching -- offensive coordinator at Stanford.

HA. Why not hire him? He's probably chomping at the bit about this, don't you think????

Look at his background!

Shaw was a four-year letter winner (1991-1994) at Stanford as a receiver. He was a member of Stanford's 1991 Aloha Bowl team, coached by Dennis Green, and the Cardinal's 1992 Blockbuster Bowl team coached by Bill Walsh. Shaw, whose father, Willie, was an assistant coach at Stanford from 1974-76 and again from 1989-91, caught 57 passes in his Cardinal career for 664 yards and five touchdowns. Shaw spent nine seasons in the NFL before joining Harbaugh as his passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2006. Shaw coached with the Eagles in 1997, Raiders from '98-'01 and the Ravens from '02-'05.

When I bring this up, Raiders fans point to Art Shell, who's become the token hire that makes it OK for the Raiders to continue a pattern -- Davis himself, Madden, Gruden, Kiffin, -- that has an obvious young white male bias.

Sorry, but to me this is a perfect example of what's wrong in our society and how much we do need to change. A study was conducted by labor economist Dr. Janice Madden.

Dr. Madden determined that:

· the black coaches averaged 1.1 more wins per season than the white coaches

· the black coaches led their teams to the playoffs 67% of the time versus 39% of the time for the white coaches

· in their first season, black coaches averaged 2.7 more wins than the white coaches in their first season

· in their final season, terminated black coaches win an average of 1.3 more games than terminated white coaches

· the black coaches inherited teams with an average of 7.4 wins per season and, during their tenures, increased the average wins for their teams to 9.1 per season.

Statistical analysis thus demonstrates that by virtually every objective criteria, black head coaches in the NFL have outperformed their white counterparts. So with this, you'd think that teams like the Raiders would break their pattern of bias, but it's not happened.

Some say that the Oakland Raiders didn't think in terms of color -- but my argument is that they did and its evident in their hiring and interview patterns -- they're hard-wired such that they have an image they want to follow and that's one of a white coach. That's not good. Not at all.

Remember that Art Shell was not the Raiders first coaching choice last year. They went after Louisville Coach Bobby Petrino and didn't get him. They also talked to other coaches who fit the "Gruden" bill in other words young and white -- then settled on Shell as a Raider Legend coming home again. But he was also the only black candidate. It's like the Raiders seem to not want to think of a Black coaching candidate unless he's a Raider legend, but it's OK for whites not to be.

I do wish that they, and other teams in sports, would put an end to this habit. It really does show the World that racism -- institutional racism -- still exists. It is also an example of why a diverse society must be achieved, so that we all know each other as individuals; thus when a position like head coach of the Oakland Raiders opens up, many qualified candidates of all colors are evaluated and the person's picked from that process.

That's the way it should be.