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Oakland Raiders Staff To Coach
2008 Under Armour Senior Bowl North Team
Oakland Raiders head
coach Lane Kiffin and this staff will coach the North team of top NFL
draft prospects in the January 26 contest, while San Francisco 49ers
head coach Mike Nolan and his staff will coach the South squad.
 MOBILE, Ala. (January
5, 2008) --
Lane Kiffin, the youngest head coach in the modern history of the NFL.
and his Oakland Raiders coaching staff will coach the North team in the
2008 Under Armour Senior Bowl, officials announced on Saturday.
Kiffin and his Raiders staff will be
joined on the Senior Bowl sidelines by San Francisco 49ers head coach
Mike Nolan and his staff, named as one of the game’s coaching staffs on
Friday. The 49ers will coach the Senior Bowl’s South team for the third
straight year.
Through the Senior Bowl's working
agreement with the National Football League, the NFL office selects
coaching staffs for the contest each year. It marks the fourth time that
the Raiders will serve as a Senior Bowl staff, with former head coach
Art Shell and his staff performing those duties in 1992, Jon Gruden and
his staff coaching the North team in the 50th annual Senior Bowl in
1999, and Norv Turner and his staff coaching the North in 2005.
Oakland Raiders head coach
Lane Kiffin
The Raiders will have either the third or
fourth overall selection in the first round of the upcoming NFL Draft,
depending on the outcome of a coin flip with the Atlanta Falcons which
will take place at the NFL Combine in February.
“We’re very pleased that the National
Football League office has once again selected two outstanding staffs to
coach this year’s Senior Bowl teams,” said Senior Bowl President Steve
Hale. “Having two NFL organizations work with this year’s players
throughout Senior Bowl Week is part of what makes our event so unique,
and also helps maximize the many benefits that our players will receive
by their participating in the Senior Bowl.”
In addition to their coaching staffs, both
Kiffin and Nolan will also be accompanied by their organization’s
training, video and equipment staffs, and other support personnel, to
Mobile.
Kiffin recently completed his first season
as head coach of the Raiders. With his appointment by Raiders owner Al
Davis in January of 2007 at age 31, Kiffin became the youngest head
coach in the history of the modern NFL. Now 32, Kiffin is also the
youngest head coach in Raider history.
Prior to joining the Silver and Black,
Kiffin presided over the vaunted offensive attack at USC, as USC won
National College Football Championships during his tenure in both 2003
and 2004.
Before joining the Trojans in 2001, Kiffin
was an assistant with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. His father, Monte,
is a longtime NFL assistant coach and currently the defensive
coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
A total of 17 members of the Raiders’ 2007
roster played in the Senior Bowl, including several starters such as
defensive end Derrick Burgess, linebackers Kirk Morrison and Thomas
Howard, and 1,000-yard rusher Justin Fargas, winner of the team’s
prestigious 2007 Commitment to Excellence Award.
The Senior Bowl is the nation’s most
unique football game and football’s premier pre-draft event, annually
featuring the country’s best senior collegiate football stars and top
NFL draft prospects on teams representing the North and South which are
coached by the entire coaching staffs from two National Football League
teams.
Senior Bowl practices are also attended by
over 800 general managers, head coaches, assistant coaches, scouts and
other front office personnel from the 32 National Football League teams,
making Mobile and the Senior Bowl the weeklong host to a one-of-a-kind
NFL Coaches Convention.
The 2008 Under Armour Senior Bowl will
kickoff at 3:00 p.m. on January 26, and the game will be nationally
televised by the NFL Network.
Tickets to the contest are currently on
sale at all area Food World stores, selected Regions Bank branches, the
Senior Bowl ticket office in the Riverview Plaza Hotel in downtown
Mobile, or ordered through the bowl’s website at
www.seniorbowl.com.
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