When Reggie McKenzie took over as GM for the Raiders and kicked out Hue Jackson, he brought in the tiny pipsqueak Dennis Allen to be the first new coach of the Raiders post Al Davis. Dennis Allen was a Defense guy and the youngest coach in the league. Frankly I was never impressed with the guy, he really has the physical presence of a mouse. On the sidelines even being all coachy during games he still looked like a wimpy coordinator. Like a secondary coach or a water boy. Maybe one of those guys who hold the first down markers. I could beat up Dennis Allen.

He was given a few years, and rightfully so. No coach deserves to be jettisoned after one season (Goddamnit Browns) and the Raiders were dealing with very large salary cap issues left behind by Al Davis contracts, so he was given a little slack. But in his tenure he proved to be a non-entity and now with the Salary Cap woes gone this season Allen’s excuses would no longer work. Part of me wonders if Allen was ever really “the guy” or if Reggie knew what sort of cap hell he’d have to weather in Oakland for a while before getting a real chance to build something and just threw Allen in there to hold the fort. Whatever the case is, Allen is gone, fired over the phone after they recently got blown out by the Dolphins in London. At one point Derek Carr was trying to limp off the field, clearly in severe pain, and no player or coach came out to help him off. After that happened every Raider fan not already against Allen turned on him.

I wish they had left him stranded in London all Lane Kiffin USC style.