Dennis Allen was fired on the phone which is pretty good for a Raiders coach

(USA TODAY Sports)

The Oakland Raiders have a proud and noble history of mishandling the firing of their head coaches. On Monday night the team continued that tradition by parting ways with coach Dennis Allen over the phone.

The Raiders fired Dennis Allen tonight over the phone. Really.

Ian Rapoport ( RapSheet) September 30 2014

Yes the Raiders informed Dennis Allen he is fired over the phone rather than talk to him on an 11 hour flight home from London.

Jay Glazer ( JayGlazer) September 30 2014

Allen also joins an esteemed list of coaches who were canned in Oakland after four games into the season. Mike Shanahan got the boot after four games in 1989 and Lane Kiffin was shown the door after the same time in 2008.

Getting fired over the phone is not a good way to be let go. As an employee you hope to be able to look your boss in the eye before getting the boot and perhaps even answer for your actions. However Allen shouldn t feel too bad. He was working for the Raiders after all. Compared to head coaches of yesteryear Allen s dismissal was downright classy.

(AP)

Late Raiders owner Al Davis held a press conference after firing Kiffin in 08 during which the owner described the process in which he fired his coach in explicit painstaking detail. At one point Davis read a letter he sent Kiffin explaining the mistakes the coach had been making on the field called the coach a flat out liar a professional liar and claimed he conned me like he conned all you people.

If the final scene of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was reshot with a 79 year old NFL owner with an affinity for silver and black wind suits and a penchant for calling Marcus Allen a cancer it probably would have looked like this.

In 89 Shanahan and Davis put on one of the most incredible soap operas in NFL history. The details of Shanahan s tenure with Raiders are long and sordid. Assistant coaches hired by Shanahan were fired by Davis. Assistant coaches hired by Davis and fired by Shanahan were rehired by Davis into different jobs. After starting the 89 season 1 3 Shanahan was shown the door. Five years later Shanahan attempted to even the score using quarterback Elvis Grbac while serving as the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator.

From a 1998 article in The New York Times

Shanahan pulled Grbac aside Grbac recalled and gave an unusual order See Al Davis over there I want you to throw the ball right at him.

A shocked Grbac replied I can t do that. If I hit him do you know what he could do to me

Shanahan looked at Grbac with his intense glare and said Throw the ball.

You see getting fired by the Raiders over the phone isn t so bad after all.

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