8 yards per game and passing yards with 279

Cables high-profile legal issues are well documented and that certainly plays a part in his eventual dismissal. If Al Davis remains in charge of football operations he should consider a professional coach who has a history with the Raiders, Marc Trestman. Trestman is currently the 53 year old head coach of the Canadian Football Leagues, Montreal Alouettes. He had the Alouettes (Als) in the Grey Cup (league championship) in his first season (08) and now has them poised to return, with a CFLs best record, 13-2. The Als should win it all this season, and Trestman is responsible for the high octane offensive that the Als have displayed in the last two seasons. So why Trestman Well, hes smart (a law degree), articulate, and has a terrific football pedigree and above all, Al Davis knows who he is. Therefore, who is Marc Trestman Trestman entered football coaching at the University of Miami in 1981 as a volunteer coach while getting his law degree In 1983 he was named quarterbacks coach. That same year, quarterback Bernie Kosar passed for 2,329 yards and Miami won the national championship. The next year, Kosar completed 262 passes for 3,642 yards, both school records. Trestman then moved to the NFL and coached the running backs with the Minnesota Vikings in 1985 and 1986, Bud Grant introduced him to the NFL. He became Quarterbacks coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1987 then held the same position with the Cleveland Browns in 1988. In Cleveland, he again coached Kosar and the team finished 10-6 and made the playoffs (Yes, the Browns) He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 1989.

That year Kosar passed for 3,533 yards and 18 TDs, wide receiver Webster Slaughter had a franchise record 1,236 receiving yards, and the Browns made it to the AFC Championship game (yes, the Browns). In 1990, Trestman returned to Minnesota as quarterbacks coach for the Vikings. He spent two years there and then left coaching for three years. The first year he was there, the 49ers led the NFL with 457 points scored, 644 pass attempts and 4,779 passing yards (Steve Young likes him, too). Trestman moved to the Detroit Lions as quarterbacks coach in 1997. That year Lion's quarterback Scott Mitchell passed for 3,484 yards, second most in team history (yes, the Lions). In 1998 he was with the Arizona Cardinals as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. In 2002 he was promoted to offensive coordinator and the Raiders led the NFL in total offense with 389.8 yards per game and passing yards with 279.7 per game (the last time they did that). That same Raider team made it to the Super Bowl but lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Marv Levy understood that, and he was one of the most successful NFL head coaches of all time, and he came from the CFL. He led those same Montreal Alouettes to two championships (74 & 77). As a former Montrealer, I fondly remember the 1977 Grey Cup on the frozen turf of the Olympic Stadium, with a record crowd of over 63 thousand. Both Trestman and Levy are certainly not flashy, but right now the Raiders need a different kind of coach, a smart one and a winning one. . U.S. jobless rate jumps to near 16-year peak in December Global Markets Employers cut 524,000 jobs in December Economy shed 2.6 million jobs in 2008, worst since 1945 Report weighs on stocks, gives bid to bonds (Adds market close) By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. unemployment ratesurged to the highest in nearly 16 years last month as adeepening year-long recession forced companies to axe more thanhalf a million jobs, government data showed on Friday The U.S. economy lost an astonishing 1.9 million jobs inthe past four months alone, an acceleration in layoffs towardthe end of a year that brought the biggest drop in employmentin more than a half century. In all of 2008, 2.6 million people lost their jobs, thelargest slump in employment since a 2.75 million drop in 1945.

The December data pointed to a bleak start for 2009 andincreased chances the economic downturn could become thelongest since the 1930s "This is a very dismal report. "This is one ofthe most significant downward quarters for jobs in post WorldWar (Two) history." The Labor Department said the unemployment rate jumped to7.2 percent last month, the highest since January 1993, from6.8 percent in November. The rise was driven by massive layoffsin all major sectors except government, education and health In all, employers cut nonfarm payrolls by 524,000 lastmonth. While that was a bit less than analysts had predicted,job loss totals for October and November were revised upwardand came in much higher than previously estimated U.S.