Raiders AFC Rule

This was it for Art Shell. No more of having his name being brought up for every NFL head-coaching job that came open, only to fail in landing one.
Enough was enough.

"There comes a time when you have to shut it off, let it go, and say it's not going to happen," Shell said.

Thirteen years after he was fired by the Oakland Raiders, and after years spent hoping for another chance, it has happened for Shell. The Raiders brought him back in February as their head coach with the idea he would bring the Raiders Mystique back, something that is sorely needed.

As he sat surrounded by reporters at the AFC coaches breakfast at the NFL Winter Meetings, Shell said he is thrilled to be back coaching again. You can see it in his smile. He seems happy and content.

"We haven't started playing games yet," he said.

Getting him back is the right thing for the Raiders. Shell deserves another chance.

So why in the heck did it take so long? Was it because he was the first black coach of the modern era and people assumed he had failed? Was it because some considered him nothing more a puppet for Davis when he was the coach? What took so long?

"I don't know," Shell said. "I got to the point where I kept telling people they couldn't ask me that. Ask the people doing the hiring."

In the 13 years since he was let go, Shell worked as an assistant before landing a job with the league office. Coaching was still in his blood, but he was almost resigned to the fact it wouldn't happen again. He had a handful of interviews over the years, including with Davis in 1998, but he instead hired Jon Gruden.

"There's some frustration, but you can't get involved in that because it will drive you crazy," Shell said. "So you have to get involved in other things, which I did. I moved on as an assistant coach and I moved on to the NFL office. You can't let those things deter you, so you move on another mound of cheese to choose from. You can't get angry. What are you going to do? Fight somebody? Hit somebody? You just have to move on."

Even this job didn't look good. The Raiders courted Louisville coach Bob Petrino, Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and others, but none would bite. That's when Davis turned to Shell.

He was coming home, bringing with him the old Raiders ways, the commitment to excellence. Players will know the storied history of this team, Shell said.

Remember when the Oakland Raiders used to symbolize something in the NFL, a mean, nasty team that won a lot of football games, beating up their opponent as they did so.

Just Win, Baby. People noticed The Silver and Black, their merchandise becoming a top seller all over the country.

The Raiders had street cred.

The past three years, wearing Oakland Raiders stuff meant you were old school. Who would dare be caught dead wearing the silver-and-black from a team that has won 13 games the past three years?

On the street that would be Just Sin, Baby; it's Silver and Yecch.

So Al Davis, he of the slicked-back hair and black and white sweatsuits, turned to the past to bring back the glory.

Art Shell is that past.

The former Raiders tackle, who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, previously coached the Raiders from 1989-94 and posted a winning record, going 56-41 (counting playoffs) and actually had a winning record in 1994, the year he was fired.

That was the year that the puppet talk started, that Davis pulled all the strings. That talk heated up when Shell benched Marcus Allen that year, a move many said was made by Davis.

It was the beginning of the end for Shell.

Davis has since hinted that the firing was a decision he regretted, and the Raiders have been searching for stability ever since. They had the Super Bowl season four years ago, but for the most part this has been a floundering franchise, not nearly living up to the Raiders of old.

"You sit there and you watch the organization lose and you have people asking what's up with you team," Shell said. "I didn't like to see what I saw from the Raiders. That's not the Raiders. That's a team showing up."

Bringing back Shell is a start. The talent level also has to be upgraded, and the team will have a new starting quarterback in 2006, with Aaron Brooks the likely starter. The defense has to be upgraded.

Shell has been spending his first month and half on the job catching up on his own team as well as working on free agency, the draft and putting together a quality staff.

He was asked if it's been whirl wind.

"Whirl wind?" he said. "I'm still going around."

Art Shell is back where he belongs. He finally has that second chance he deserved. He does so knowing that the trail he once blazed as the first black coach of the modern era has paid off for others.

As he talked Tuesday, coaches Tony Dungy of the Colts and Herm Edwards of the Chiefs talked at tables next to him. Across the way was Marvin Lewis of the Cincinnati Bengals.

That makes Shell happy.

"As the first of the modern era, I'm proud of that," Shell said. "I also said at the time when I got the job that I had to have some success in order for this thing to be one that would work. I think I had some success. I created opportunities for others come along. I'm proud of that. What has happened is exiting to see. And it can only get better. It will get better."

Some will say being away as a head coach for 13 years is a long time. Didn't Joe Gibbs have some adjustments when he came back as a head coach? The game, they will say, has changed.

Shell doesn't buy it, although he does say there is more zone-blitzing now than when he left in the 1990s.

"You still run the football, you still have to tackle," Shell said. "The Steelers identity has not changed from when I played or coached. They're going to run the football, they're going to play-action pass and they're going to play tough defense. So when you have people say football is on the cutting edge, the cutting edge of what? You can't reinvent the wheel. You can't reinvent the game."

You can, however, go home again.

Art Shell is back where he belongs. Now if only Davis would leave him alone, but that's about as likely as seeing Davis in something other than black or white.