OAKLAND (KGO) – The Oakland Raiders introduced new head coach Hue Jackson on Tuesday, which meant team owner Al Davis addressed the media for the first time in 27 months. Jackson will be the sixth coach in the past nine seasons.

Like many of Davis’ gatherings with the media, this was a classic — one hour and 38 minutes. It covered everything from a new stadium, which Davis would like a new one in Oakland, to former head coach Tom Cable, who was apparently let go for on and off the field issues.

At age 81, Davis is clearly having a rough time physically, but he’s sharp mentally. Davis says he fined Cable $120,000 this season because of legal fees involving the Randy Hansen assault case and domestic abuse charges involving Cable.

“…just wasn’t going to take it anymore and so our attorneys asked them to resolve all of the cases against us, the Raiders, and until you do that, we’re going to take money out of your check because we don’t know what the final verdict will be against the Raiders in the lawsuit,” said Davis.

When asked if there was an issue the Raiders were having with background checks, Davis admitted, “Yeah, we’re very bad at it.”

As is often the case when Davis speaks, the man sitting next to him gets completely overshadowed. That’s what happened with Jackson.

“I want you to meet the new head coach of the Oakland Raiders. I’m proud as hell&Hue Jackson,” said Davis.

Jackson, 45, will take over as the lead dog on this Raiders sled and he’s ready for the challenge.

“I am so proud to stand before you today and have this opportunity to take this football team to where I know we can go. We’re going to get in those playoffs and we’re going to challenge for the Super Bowl,” said Jackson.

Jackson inherits a team that Cable put back on track.

“The process is in place. We’re going to create an environment for our players to be great and that’s what we’re chasing. We’re chasing greatness,” said Jackson.

I found it interesting that no current players were at the press conference. So I asked coach Jackson if being on last year’s staff helped him overcome Tom Cable’s popularity in the locker room.

“Today, alone, I got 20 text messages from our players who are very excited about me being here, being the head coach, and they can’t wait to get back here,” said Jackson.

Davis admits his previous choices at this position have been suspect.

“I’ve made mistakes, yes. You’re saying should I take some of the blame? I certainly do. You want me to get it from my wife? I do get it from her,” said Davis.

Jackson lacks head coaching experience, but he makes up for it with confidence.

“I’m here to be great and I know we’ve talked about the coaches before me and I have great respect for them, but they’re not Hue Jackson and I came here for one reason, it’s to come back and help restore the great tradition of the Oakland Raiders,” said Jackson.

Just after Jackson was introduced, Cable was introduced by the Seattle Seahawks as their offensive line coach and assistant head coach under Pete Carroll.

(Copyright ©2011 KGO-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

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Meanwhile, in other news, the Raiders might actually have hired a good head coach.

His name is Hue Jackson. Sorry if you didn’t notice him Tuesday.

Jackson was ostensibly the reason for Tuesday’s session with the media at team headquarters. But as so often happens when owner Al Davis makes a rare public appearance, a firestorm erupts — in this case, it was Davis’ verbal excoriation of former coach Tom Cable — and overrides the alleged main event.

Rest assured, though, that Jackson understands the deal. He knows that he will never be the main event in Raiderville. Jackson spent Tuesday referring over and over to “Coach Davis” in a flattering way and promising that the Hue Jackson Master Plan is “to build a bully” in Oakland. At his side, Davis beamed.

Popeye, beware. Bluto is out to win the AFC West. And let’s be honest. That is what Raiderholics care about the most, right? At their Super Bowl-watching parties next month, they will not spend quality time debating the merits of Tom Cable’s legal strategy. They will talk about whether Jackson will finally get their damn team to finish over .500 for the first time since 2002.

My first-glance assessment of that issue: Yes. He will.

I am not predicting Super Bowls. But I believe that Jackson has a far better-than-average chance to make his Raiders coaching tenure successful. He definitely has a better chance than his two immediate predecessors, Cable and Lane Kiffin,

who never achieved anything close to a real working relationship with Davis.

Jackson started cultivating one last season after being brought aboard as offensive coordinator. And the relationship is still in place, at least for the moment. Easy to see why. When he starts talking offensive football, it’s clear that Jackson is the smartest strategic head coach hired by the Raiders since “… well, since either Norv Turner or Jon Gruden.

If you’re a Raiders fan, you should obviously hope that he is more like Gruden, the last head coach to depart the premises with a winning record. When Jackson and Gruden were very young coaches, they were office-mates at the University of Pacific. Jackson does not have a Grudenesque personality but seems to have similar energy — and better yet, a similar ability to communicate with rich 27-year-old athletes by invoking either salty ire or salty enthusiasm as appropriate.

So. Assuming that Jackson can win over any straggling Cable supporters in the locker room (no sure thing), and assuming that Davis can maintain a roster equally as talented as the 2009 roster (also no sure thing), good things are possible.

For the record, Jackson said Tuesday that he had already received 20 text messages from Raiders since his announcement as head coach. I will assume that they were all positive messages from 20 different players, rather than being 20 negative messages from the same guy.

“We’re going to create an environment here for our players to do great, and that’s what we’re chasing,” Jackson said.

“There’s no question in my mind that that process is under way. We were the second-ranked team in rushing in football. We did score points, obviously not enough to our liking where we want to go. But we think that the players are in place for us to have an opportunity to get it done.”

Right about here, I should add that I am occasionally (defined as: frequently) wrong about these things. Oh, some calls about new coaches are easy. When Davis hired Joe Bugel, a blowhard who had already failed once as an NFL head coach, you could see doom on the horizon. Same with Kiffin, whose coaching résumé was thinner than a wet nap.

But I was wrong about Gruden, who I thought was a risky pick because he was just 33 years old when he became the Raiders’ coach. And I was spectacularly mistaken about Art Shell’s brief second term with the team. I figured that because of his Raiders heritage and stoic demeanor, he would be the perfect man to steady a team in chaos. (This was before Shell decided to employ a bed-and-breakfast proprietor as his offensive coordinator.)

I mention all this just so you take none of this to the bank. But here are a few other things I see in the 45-year-old Jackson that gives him a higher probability to succeed:

• He has already worked for a couple of dysfunctional NFL teams, the Redskins and Bengals. So the inevitable Raiders goofiness shouldn’t faze him.
• Like the most successful Raiders coaches of the past, Jackson’s background is on offense. (Gruden was a West Coast Offense savant. Tom Flores was a former quarterback. And John Madden in his early years was tutored by Sid Gillman and Don Coryell.)
• Jackson can mouth the usual Raiders platitudes. But he also talks in non-clichés that communicate his clear intentions. (“This is what I’m looking for; when another team comes to the stadium, they worry about us hitting them as soon as they get off the bus.”)

  Of course, every new Raiders coach has a great plan, until the team goes out and commits 16 penalties in a game. But the soonest that can happen is September. Hue Jackson had a pretty good first few hours of his regime, if anyone was paying attention.

  Contact Mark Purdy at mpurdy@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5092.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis rarely talks to the media anymore.

So when Davis got the chance at a news conference announcing the hiring of Hue Jackson as his new head coach on Tuesday, he took the opportunity to address a number of issues.

Davis spent a larger portion of a more than 100-minute news conference explaining why he fined former coach Tom Cable $120,000 in the final year of his contract. Davis says he withheld the money from Cable’s last six checks because of the strain on the organization from lawsuits involving Cable assaulting a former assistant coach and a former girlfriend.

The suit by former assistant Randy Hanson was kicked out of court and sent to an NFL arbitrator. Davis said that Cable recently settled the suit with former girlfriend Marie Lutz.

“That lawsuit created a tremendous amount of work, stress and turmoil,” Davis said. “Tom had been told earlier in his career that he could have been fired without pay for the wrath he brought on the Raider organization.”

Cable’s agent did not immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment. Cable has filed a grievance with the NFL to recover the lost wages.

Davis said Cable lied to him when asked if there were any issues in his past that could affect the Raiders. He was also angered by one aspect of Lutz’s lawsuit that said Cable brought her on road trips with the team, saying it goes against his way of living and the Raider way.

He said that even though Cable was accused of breaking Hanson’s jaw in August 2009, accused of assaulting three women later that year and sued by Lutz last June, he kept him on to coach the 2010 season.

“We had been in turmoil for about a year or two after the initial stuff came out and so I just didn’t think we needed another uproar at this particular time,” Davis said. “Two roads. You can choose Road A or Road B, either way.”

Cable has acknowledged striking his first wife, Sandy Cable, with an open hand. He said the altercation happened more than 20 years ago and was the only time he’s ever touched a woman inappropriately. Because that happened before Cable joined the NFL, he was not punished by the league.

“

I have made mistakes. Yes, there’s no question about it, and you got to have great players. But you also, sometimes, have the players and don’t get it done. So, you’re saying, should I take some of the blame? I certainly do.

” – Al Davis on if he’s to blame for Raiders’ struggles

Davis said he still does not know what happened in the hotel room at training camp when Hanson had his jaw broken. Hanson accused Cable of throwing him against the wall, causing the left side of Hanson’s face to strike a table, then hit Hanson while he was on the floor. Hanson was treated for a fractured jaw and broken teeth. Hanson said Cable was restrained by assistants John Marshall, Willie Brown and Lionel Washington.

Davis said he didn’t want to get into the middle of the dispute.

“Can’t get the story,” Davis said. “You know, it’s like Gitmo. Trying to find out, did they waterboard those guys or not? No, really. It’s hard to believe. How many guys went in? Four guys went into the room with a guy, the guys comes out with a broken jaw and no one saw it.”

On other topics in Davis’ first news conference in more than 16 months:

• Davis took some blame for the Raiders struggles the past eight years when they have failed to post a winning record. “I have made mistakes. Yes, there’s no question about it, and you got to have great players. But you also, sometimes, have the players and don’t get it done. So, you’re saying, should I take some of the blame? I certainly do.”

• He said the team was hurt by the failures of former No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell, who was cut last May after being paid more than $39 million for three ineffective seasons. “We had a big investment in this guy. Basically, he’s a good person but he’s got personal problems, and I decided that it was time that we were not going to fight it anymore.”

• He said he was not pleased with Cable’s proclamation that “we’re not losers anymore” after the Raiders won the season finale to finish 8-8. “If that’s not being a loser in our world, I don’t know what it is, come in .500. That’s never been my goal.”

• He explained why he still believes in receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, who caught just 37 passes in his first two seasons. “Explosion. He can catch, he’s getting better and he’s a good guy. He’s going to be good.”

• He said he wouldn’t know whether Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha would be brought back after the final year of his contract voided, but hinted the Raiders would have cut him instead of picking up an option that was set to be worth at least $16.8 million. “Can that $17 million bring you two or three quality players to help you win?”

• He also said he was not surprised he won a grievance hearing against former coach Lane Kiffin, who was seeking more than $300,000, after being fired for cause in September 2008. “I beat him because he lied. He’s a liar. He lied to you guys.”

• He said the team needed a new stadium — preferably at the same site as the current home — and was hurt by low revenues. The Raiders sold out only one game this season but Davis hopes a new labor deal will help Oakland’s cause. “We don’t have the resources that other teams have, but, but, I think we’ve shown that we can compete. It’s a question now of winning, and doing better than them. But it depends on what happens in the collective bargaining agreement.”

• He would not give an opinion on a proposed 18-game season that commissioner Roger Goodell wants in the new collective bargaining agreement, but said the talk of increased injuries was overplayed. “There’s no question that the ownership wants it, and Roger seems to have a way of getting things done if he wants it. So I’d rather not say what I think but I think the business of injury is overplayed.”

• He said he wasn’t worried about recent criticisms from Pro Bowl punter Shane Lechler, who was upset the team let Cable go, pointing out that Lechler talked about leaving as a free agent after the 2008 season. “Shane said publicly he wasn’t coming back, he didn’t like it here. A month later, he was coming back because I gave him the highest-paid contract of a specialist in pro football. No, these things happen, that’s a part of our lives, I read about marriage breakups, all those things.”

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

ALAMEDA, Calif. – Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis rarely talks to the media anymore.

So when Davis got the chance at a news conference announcing the hiring of Hue Jackson as his new head coach on Tuesday, he took the opportunity to address a number of issues.

Davis spent a larger portion of a more than 100-minute news conference explaining why he fined former coach Tom Cable $120,000 in the final year of his contract. Davis says he withheld the money from Cable’s last six checks because of the strain on the organization from lawsuits involving Cable assaulting a former assistant coach and a former girlfriend.

The suit by former assistant Randy Hanson was kicked out of court and sent to an NFL arbitrator. Davis said that Cable recently settled the suit with former girlfriend Marie Lutz.

“That lawsuit created a tremendous amount of work, stress and turmoil,” Davis said. “Tom had been told earlier in his career that he could have been fired without pay for the wrath he brought on the Raider organization.”

Cable’s agent did not immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment. Cable has filed a grievance with the NFL to recover the lost wages.

Davis said Cable lied to him when asked if there were any issues in his past that could affect the Raiders. He was also angered by one aspect of Lutz’s lawsuit that said Cable brought her on road trips with the team, saying it goes against his way of living and the Raider way.

He said that even though Cable was accused of breaking Hanson’s jaw in August 2009, accused of assaulting three women later that year and sued by Lutz last June, he kept him on to coach the 2010 season.

“We had been in turmoil for about a year or two after the initial stuff came out and so I just didn’t think we needed another uproar at this particular time,” Davis said. “Two roads. You can choose Road A or Road B, either way.”

Cable has acknowledged striking his first wife, Sandy Cable, with an open hand. He said the altercation happened more than 20 years ago and was the only time he’s ever touched a woman inappropriately. Because that happened before Cable joined the NFL, he was not punished by the league.

Davis said he still does not know what happened in the hotel room at training camp when Hanson had his jaw broken. Hanson accused Cable of throwing him against the wall, causing the left side of Hanson’s face to strike a table, then hit Hanson while he was on the floor. Hanson was treated for a fractured jaw and broken teeth. Hanson said Cable was restrained by assistants John Marshall, Willie Brown and Lionel Washington.

Davis said he didn’t want to get into the middle of the dispute.

“Can’t get the story,” Davis said. “You know, it’s like Gitmo. Trying to find out, did they waterboard those guys or not? No, really. It’s hard to believe. How many guys went in? Four guys went into the room with a guy, the guys comes out with a broken jaw and no one saw it.”

On other topics in Davis’ first news conference in more than 16 months:

• Davis took some blame for the Raiders struggles the past eight years when they have failed to post a winning record. “I have made mistakes. Yes, there’s no question about it, and you got to have great players. But you also, sometimes, have the players and don’t get it done. So, you’re saying, should I take some of the blame? I certainly do.”

• He said the team was hurt by the failures of former No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell, who was cut last May after being paid more than $39 million for three ineffective seasons. “We had a big investment in this guy. Basically, he’s a good person but he’s got personal problems, and I decided that it was time that we were not going to fight it anymore.”

• He said he was not pleased with Cable’s proclamation that “we’re not losers anymore” after the Raiders won the season finale to finish 8-8. “If that’s not being a loser in our world, I don’t know what it is, come in .500. That’s never been my goal.”

• He explained why he still believes in receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, who caught just 37 passes in his first two seasons. “Explosion. He can catch, he’s getting better and he’s a good guy. He’s going to be good.”

• He said he wouldn’t know whether Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha would be brought back after the final year of his contract voided, but hinted the Raiders would have cut him instead of picking up an option that was set to be worth at least $16.8 million. “Can that $17 million bring you two or three quality players to help you win?”

• He also said he was not surprised he won a grievance hearing against former coach Lane Kiffin, who was seeking more than $300,000, after being fired for cause in September 2008. “I beat him because he lied. He’s a liar. He lied to you guys.”

• He said the team needed a new stadium — preferably at the same site as the current home — and was hurt by low revenues. The Raiders sold out only one game this season but Davis hopes a new labor deal will help Oakland’s cause. “We don’t have the resources that other teams have, but, but, I think we’ve shown that we can compete. It’s a question now of winning, and doing better than them. But it depends on what happens in the collective bargaining agreement.”

• He would not give an opinion on a proposed 18-game season that commissioner Roger Goodell wants in the new collective bargaining agreement, but said the talk of increased injuries was overplayed. “There’s no question that the ownership wants it, and Roger seems to have a way of getting things done if he wants it. So I’d rather not say what I think but I think the business of injury is overplayed.”

• He said he wasn’t worried about recent criticisms from Pro Bowl punter Shane Lechler, who was upset the team let Cable go, pointing out that Lechler talked about leaving as a free agent after the 2008 season. “Shane said publicly he wasn’t coming back, he didn’t like it here. A month later, he was coming back because I gave him the highest paid contract of a specialist in pro football. No, these things happen, that’s a part of our lives, I read about marriage breakups, all those things.”

ALAMEDA, Calif. – The Oakland Raiders promoted offensive coordinator Hue Jackson to head coach on Monday after he helped the team more than double its scoring output in his first year with the franchise.

Jackson will be formally introduced at a news conference Tuesday — two weeks after the Raiders announced they were not picking up an option to keep coach Tom Cable.

“The fire in Hue will set a flame that will burn for a long time in the hearts and minds of the Raider football team and the Raider Nation,” owner Al Davis said in a statement.

Jackson was widely considered the leading contender to get the job as soon as the Raiders announced Cable’s departure. This is Jackson’s first head coaching job at any level.

Jackson was hired a year ago to take over the play-calling duties from Cable and oversaw a transformation on offense. Oakland scored more than twice as many points in 2010 as it did in ’09 — and the Raiders won eight games and avoid an eighth straight losing season.

Led by quarterback Jason Campbell, a breakout season from running back Darren McFadden and big plays from rookie receiver Jacoby Ford, the Raiders finished sixth in the league in scoring with 410 points.

That was the sixth-most points scored in a season in franchise history and more than doubled the 2009 scoring output when former first overall pick JaMarcus Russell spent much of the time at quarterback.

“That’s what I came here for,” Jackson said late in the season. “It would be different if there wasn’t and then I’d be really upset but that’s why I’m here. That’s why I came to the Raiders, was to improve, but we didn’t improve fast enough. … We expect to be challenging for the playoffs, challenging for our division year in and year out and we’re not getting that done, so to me, that’s a disappointment. There’s either first place or there’s last place and there’s no in between.”

That was a far different tone than the one expressed by Cable, who notably pronounced “you can’t call us losers anymore,” after the Raiders capped an 8-8 season by beating AFC West champion Kansas City in the season finale.

The Raiders won all six division games, but only two of their other 10 games. They became the first team since the 1970 merger to have a perfect record in the division and not make the postseason.

Jackson will try to get the Raiders back to the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2002 AFC championship. Davis has let go of five coaches since then.

The latest was Cable, who had wide support from his players, who credited him with helping make the team a contender in the AFC West this season after a run of seven straight years of at least 11 losses.

But Cable’s relationship with Davis was not as good and the owner decided not to exercise a two-year, $5 million option to keep him as head coach. Cable filed a grievance against the Raiders to recover $120,000 in fines that Davis withheld from Cable’s paychecks in his last season. The two did not always see eye to eye on who should start at quarterback and other issues.

Jackson had a strong relationship with Jason Campbell, the quarterback Davis acquired last offseason to lead the franchise. Campbell spoke glowingly of his relationship with Jackson. Despite being benched twice, Campbell had a solid debut season in Oakland, completing 59 percent of his passes with 13 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a passer rating of 84.5

Now he gets rare the opportunity to play in the same offense for a second straight season. He had four different offenses in four years at Auburn, then four more in six years in the NFL with Washington and Oakland.

Jackson has extensive experience as an assistant in the NFL, working in Washington, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Baltimore for nearly a decade before joining the Raiders. He has coached quarterbacks, receivers and running backs, along with serving three stints as an offensive coordinator.

His most successful was with the Raiders, who were one of the league’s worst offenses when he arrived.

“We were pretty bad last year on offense. To have a turnaround like that is a great credit to our players and coach Jackson,” tight end Zach Miller said late in the season. “We showed how strong we can be, how many points we can put up and how explosive we can be. We didn’t do it consistently enough, but I thought when we did we had the capability of putting a lot of points on the board.”