Davis’ Hook Out, Shanahan Kept Hanging : Raider Coach Is Told He Might Be Fired, Then Is Put on Standby

Tired of rotating linebackers, the Raiders may move to another position this week: head coach.

Al Davis met with his embattled young coach, Mike Shanahan, Monday morning and told him that he might fire him.

Davis told Shanahan he’d get back to him. But Shanahan left the team’s El Segundo facility Monday evening having heard no more and drove home still the Raider coach.

If this almost-firing sounds peculiar, it is a familiar Davis pattern. A year ago, after a blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, he summoned all the coaches to a late Sunday night meeting and said he might let two of the defensive assistants go, that he would decide the next morning. He didn’t name them, but he reportedly was referring to Charlie Sumner and Earl Leggett.

He decided to let them stay. Sumner was subsequently fired and Leggett left after the season and went to Denver.

Another time, at halftime of the 1987 opener at Green Bay, Davis saw a young Raider official talking to a writer. The next day he told the official he might have to let him go and he’d get back to him on it. He never got back to him.

Davis could not be reached for comment Monday.

Shanahan, asked about reports of Davis’ displeasure at his weekly press conference, denied them generally and wouldn’t discuss specifics.

“I’m not going to get into those things,” he said. “If you’d like to ask Mr. Davis, I think you should ask him.”

Shanahan said that he and Davis talked Monday but suggested that it was only about routine matters.

But Shanahan also threw in a qualifier:

“Even if I did talk to him (about reports he’d be fired), I would keep it between him and me, and not (include) the media.”

Raider officials like to note that Davis, a former coach, has never fired a coach, much less axed one four games into his second season.

However, Davis has made little secret of his dissatisfaction with Shanahan, going back to Shanahan’s first game. Davis told his many confidants around the league, in the words of one of them, that “Shanahan is a bright, young coach but he isn’t sure he’s a Raider.”

This season, while the Raiders started 1-3, Davis has been heard second-guessing his coach’s play-calling.

Sunday, Davis seemed displeased by Shanahan’s decision to line up in a shotgun to pass on third and two late in the third period; by the failure to run the ball after that, despite the team’s 6.3-yard average per carry.

“We’re all disappointed right now,” Shanahan said early in the afternoon.

“It’s always tough. You find out what kind of character you have as a team when you’ve got your backs against the wall. You’re 1-3 and you believe you should be at least 3-1. There’s a lot of people that get down.

“Any time you don’t win, there are always rumors and speculation. You really can’t concern yourself with that. The only thing you can concern yourself with is going full speed ahead. You’ve got a job to do and you’ve got to get that done.

“And whatever happens, happens.”

Not that they could let a week go by without one linebacker change.

The Raiders cut Jackie Shipp, who started the first three games at middle linebacker. This makes two of their three starting linebackers who have been cut in the first five weeks of the season.

Shipp, a Plan B signee who was left unprotected after an undistinguished career with the Miami Dolphins, made the team when the Raiders cut Matt Millen. Both he and Millen had $400,000 salaries and Shipp will receive half of his--$200,000--for opening the season on the roster.

With Shipp starting, the Raiders allowed an average of 164 yards rushing a game. When Jerry Robinson returned last week and Ricky Hunley was signed, Shipp fell all the way to the inactive list.

With Robinson and Hunley playing, the Raiders played a decent first half Sunday, but still wound up surrendering 160 yards rushing.

Of the five Plan B linebackers the Raiders signed, four have started but only two remain, starter Thomas Benson and substitute Emanuel King.

Gone are Otis Wilson, Joe Costello and Shipp.

The Raiders have made nine linebacker moves--cuts or signings--since the season started.

Raider Notes

First word is that Vann McElroy will be out three to four weeks with his hamstring pull, that Lionel Washington’s hamstring may not be as bad, and that Don Mosebar’s knee injury will be re-evaluated later this week. . . . Howie Long, who has missed the last two games with a sprained ankle, thinks he will be able to play somewhat against the New York Jets next Monday night at the Meadowlands.