FanHouse Kevin Gilbride

A couple of weeks ago, reports surfaced that Raiders owner Al Davis might be interested in Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride to take over the team's head coaching duties. It had to be shockingly bad news for Raiders fans, seeing as how Gilbride's only head coaching experience was a 6-16 run with the San Diego Chargers during the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

Of course, it was just a report of a name that might interest the Raiders. Well, on Saturday, Davis and Gilbride apparently had a 90-minute phone conversation, which has to have fans in Oakland throwing papers in the air and screaming for the return of John Madden. So, does this lengthy phone conversation mean the Raiders are interested in Gilbride's sevices? If you ask John Herrera, the answer is no, no it does not.

"Mr. Davis has known Kevin for a long time and was more than willing to oblige and have that conversation," Herrera said. "They had an interesting hour-and-a-half conversation Saturday at Gilbride's request. End of story."

I realize Gilbride, like any current assistant, is probably looking for an opportunity to become a head coach -- it's more glamorous than being a coordinator, obviously, and it's certainly better for your bank account -- but is it really a wise career choice for him? Is it better to be the offensive coordinator for a consistent playoff contender, or attempt to take over what has to be considered the worst coaching job in the NFL right now? Frankly, if I were Gilbride I'd stick to the former, at least until Davis hands the keys to the Raiders over to somebody else.

It's been yet another lost season out in Oakland, as the Raiders are already on their second head coach of the year, employees are jumping ship to join the former head coach at his new place of employment, all while they've assured themselves a sixth straight 10-loss season. Good times, indeed.

One of the players who was supposed to help turn this thing around was No. 4 overall pick Darren McFadden. Thus far, his rookie season has been somewhat of a disappointment, mainly because he's been hampered by some turf toe problems -- that may or may not be the result of shoes that don't fit -- and some curious decisions by an agitated Tom Cable.

On Sunday, when the Raiders were absolutely throttled by New England, McFadden didn't play much in the first half, and didn't start getting regular touches until the third quarter when the game was already well out of reach. This isn't sitting well some members of the Oakland media.

Following the game, Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune offered his initial feelings on the lack of McFadden, saying his performance once he got in proves that the turf toe issue is, well, no longer an issue. On Tuesday, Monte Poole weighed in on McFadden's usage, and he too isn't thrilled with the interim head coach.

While football fans (and perhaps owners) in Washington and Cleveland are having dreams about Bill Cowher leaving the confines of the CBS studio and leading their teams to glory, the Oakland Raiders seem to be setting their goals a little lower. Perhaps more realistic, mind you, but definitely lower. Much, much lower.

According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen (via PFT) Raiders owner Al Davis, supposedly, is a big fan of New York Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. Seriously? Kevin Gilbride? This is the name you can come up with? Granted, in the efforts of fairness, this is just a report of a name that might be considered -- but Kevin Gilbride?

Gilbride is, perhaps, most famous for the run-and-shoot offense in his days as Houston Oilers offensive coordinator -- when he was punched on the sidelines by Buddy Ryan, father of current Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan -- and going 6-16 as the head coach of the San Diego Chargers during the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

Will Jeremy Shockey be a New York Giant in 2008? When the draft came and went and Shockey wasn't traded, most people figured that meant Shockey was going to stay with Big Blue, even if he wasn't particularly happy about it.

But Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride doesn't know if he can count on having Shockey available to him. From the New York Daily News, via PFT:

"It's so nebulous right now, you just have no idea," Gilbride said. "Right now he's on our team. We're planning on him being there. He'll be one of the guys that we'll look to feature and one of the guys that we'll look to depend on. Hopefully he'll be here in good spirits and ready to do the things that we know he's capable of doing. But who knows? It's certainly beyond my hands."

Although the Giants won three playoff games and the Super Bowl without Shockey, who broke his leg in December, he's still a good player and almost certainly would contribute more to the team in 2008 than whoever they could get for him in a trade. For that reason, it seems unlikely that Shockey will be traded. But, as Gilbride says, who knows?

Only two days after leaving paradise, former Hawaii head coach June Jones wrote a letter to his friends listing several potential replacements.

However, in a letter to friends, Jones has mentioned several possible successors with local ties. They include New York Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Norm Chow, San Jose State coach Dick Tomey, Texas assistant coach Duane Akina and Hawaii linebackers coach Cal Lee.

If you're a fan of the New York football Giants, you're probably doing some sort of ritualistic prayer dance, hoping beyond hope that Gilbride gets his name called.

While the Giants offense was good enough to get them to the playoffs, the playcalling was consistently inconsistent and a major Achilles heel of the team all year. And although there were a few glimmers of hope, it's become blatantly obvious that Gilbride is not the right man for the job.

Could he be a good college head coach? I wouldn't bank on it, but I doubt any Giants fans would feel remorse for Hawaii if they took him off their hands.

And with that said, here's the Gilbride landing a coaching job in the Aloha State.