Oakland Raiders fire Greg Knapp

Greg Knapp’s reunion with the Oakland Raiders was short lived, and the Raiders offensive coordinator has been fired after just one additional season with the team, per my favorite insider Ian Rappoport. The Raiders made another unsurprising firing, as Linebackers Coach Johnny Holland has also been relieved of his duties in Oakland.

Knapp did a putrid job as the offensive coordinator of the Raiders last season in leading a 4-12 team and one of the worst offenses in the NFL. He made Dennis Allen look awful in his first year as a head coach, and his scheme blocking completely messed up Darren McFadden. Knapp, at least to me from the outside, seemed a little too stubborn as far as changing the scheme goes for his own good. It was either going to be Knapp being fired from the Oakland Raiders or star running back Darren McFadden would leave the team. I would also take a starting RB over a poor OC any day of the week. Especially on Black Monday.

The Raiders were 21st in the league with just 300 first downs, averaged a poor 3.8 yards per carry on the ground, and they threw the ball far too often and put too much pressure on Carson Palmer‘s veteran- and tiring- arm. None of that brings success, and the Raiders were actually fairly average as a passing offense due to Palmer. Knapp wasn’t a complete failure, but he did fail to bring some semblance of consistency with the running game and focused far too much on throwing the ball. You need balance to be successful on offense, and the Raiders 4-12 record shows that they weren’t exactly successful.

The Raiders offense digressed from last season, and Knapp’s insane stubborness in keeping the zone-blocking scheme and not wanting to run the football is a big reason why. Good riddance for the Raiders, I say.

Now who replaces Knapp? Does Norv Turner stay in the division and go to a rival to call plays on offense and stick it to the San Diego Chargers? That would give the Raiders a head coach and two coordinators who used to coach for rival teams.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.