Al Davis

This article is about the American football coach. For other uses, see Al Davis (disambiguation).

Al Davis

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Allen "Al" Davis (born July 4, 1929 in Brockton, Massachusetts) is an American football executive, who currently serves as the president and managing general partner of the NFL's Oakland Raiders.

Biography

Upon graduation Davis began his coaching career as the line coach at Adelphi College from 1950 to 1951. From there Davis served as the head coach of the U.S. Army team at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia from 1952 to 1953. His next coaching assignment was as the line coach and chief recruiter for The Citadel. From 1957 to 1959 Davis was a line coach at the University of Southern California.

Davis' first coaching experience in professional football came as the offensive end coach of the Los Angeles Chargers from 1960 to 1962. In 1963, at the age of 33, Davis became the head coach and general manager of the AFL's Oakland Raiders. He was the youngest person in the history of professional football to hold these positions. Prior to Davis' arrival, the Raiders had compiled a 9-33 record in their first three years of existence. Davis led the team to a 10-4 record in 1963 and was unanimously named the American Football League Coach of the Year.

Davis compiled a coaching record of 23-16-3 in three seasons as head coach in Oakland. In April 1966 he was named the American Football League Commissioner. He immediately commenced an aggressive campaign to sign some of the NFL's top players to AFL contracts. In July the AFL announced that it was merging with the rival league. Davis was against the merger and chose to return to the Raiders as their managing general partner, rather than remain as commissioner until the end of the AFL in 1970.

With Davis in control, the Raiders became one of the most successful teams in professional football. From 1967 to 1985 the team won 13 division championships, one AFL championship (1967), three Super Bowls (XI, XV, & XVIII) and made 15 playoff appearances. Though the team's fortunes haven't been as great in recent years, the Raiders are still the winningest team in professional sports history (based on win percentage) and are the only team to play in the Super Bowl in 4 different decades. Thus, the term "The Team of the Decades".

In 1992 Davis was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a Team and League Administrator, and was presented by John Madden. Davis has been chosen by a record nine Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees to present them at the Canton, Ohio ceremony: Lance Alworth, Jim Otto, George Blanda, Willie Brown, Gene Upshaw, Fred Biletnikoff, Art Shell, Ted Hendricks, and John Madden.

Al Davis is also credited for the catchphrases "Just win, baby!", "Commitment to Excellence" and "Pride and Poise".

Legal battles

Davis has long been considered one of the most controversial owners in the NFL. In 1980 he attempted to move the Raiders to Los Angeles but was blocked by a court injunction. In response Davis filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL. In June 1982 a federal district court ruled in Davis' favor and the team officially relocated to Los Angeles for the 1982 NFL season. In 1995 Davis moved the team back to Oakland. Since then he has been involved in multiple lawsuits involving Los Angeles, Oakland, Irwindale and the NFL.

Recent History

Following a series of uncharacteristic losing seasons, Al Davis hired Jon Gruden. The Raiders would later succeed by going as far as the AFC Championship game, under a primarily foreign offense than that of Al Davis' 'vertical game'. At the end of the 2001 season, which ended on a loss to the New England Patriots amid a controversial call now known as the 'tuck rule', Al Davis "traded" Jon Gruden to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A year later, those Buccaneers would beat the Bill Callahan-coached Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII.

The next season, the Raiders fell to 4-12, and Callahan was fired. Next in line in 2004 was another offense-minded coach, Norv Turner. In his two seasons, the Raiders would go 5-11, and then 4-12, basically resulting in no improvement from Callahan's embattled 2003 season.

In 2006, the Raiders wound up bringing back Art Shell, who was fired by Davis in 1994, in hopes that a Hall of Fame player could instill discipline amongst his players. The team did not respond and ended up finishing the 2006 season with a franchise worst 2-14 record. Art Shell was fired almost immediately after the 2006 season.

In January 2007, the Raiders hired USC offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin. At 31, he will be the youngest head coach in the NFL and the youngest head coach in the modern NFL era. Lane Kiffin is the son of Monte Kiffin, the defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

See also

• American Football League players, coaches, and contributors

Further reading

• Mark Ribowsky, Slick: The Silver and Black Life of Al Davis (biography)

External links

• Al Davis biography at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Al Davis biography
• ESPN Classic bio