Raiders’ head coach Dennis Allen has been on the hot seat since before the season started, and after a blowout loss in a showcase game in London, he could be on the way out very soon.
Before the season started, we polled our readers on which coach they thought would be fired first. Our readers took Jason Garrett of the Cowboys to be the first to go, but at 3-1 as they are in the process of blowing out the Saints, Garrett’s job could be safe for a while. Allen was the second choice in that poll, and right now he looks like the best bet to go first, considering the reports that came out tonight.
Terry Collins of the Associated Press reported that Allen had been fired and that the official team report was coming, but later deleted the tweet. He eventually replaced it with an apology, saying he was unable to confirm that report (via Twitter).
Allen was hired in Oakland prior to the 2012 season. He took over one of the worst teams in football, but has failed to turn them around at all so far. The Raiders posted four win seasons in 2012 and 2013, and to start off 0-4 this year puts them behind the curve on even a four-win season.
General manager Reggie McKenzie has failed equally in terms of procuring, drafting, and keeping talent during his short tenure with the team. His best move to keep his own job could be to fire Allen as a scapegoat, and reset his own clock in the front office.
Despite having little to no talent to work with, it is unclear how much longer the organization stick with Allen. The team has a week off after returning from London, and if McKenzie was going to make this move, it would make sense to do it now when their team still has time to prepare.