Raise a glass to Lane: Kiffin is toast, free of Davis tyranny

People in the Jaguars building disliked him greatly. He had a sense of entitlement. And don't dare get current UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow and Kiffin in a room together. Chow hates him. He has told me in the past that Kiffin undermined him at USC with Pete Carroll. He called him a "bad guy."

In recent weeks, Kiffin has taken to firing shots at Davis. That's because he wanted to get fired, despite what he was saying. He just didn't want to walk away from the remaining $3.5 million on his contract. Who could blame him? But word is that Davis has told him he won't pay him. He's done that in the past. He did that with Mike Shanahan when he fired him.

They say Al Davis likes to win. It seems greed is even more important.

For all the talk that Davis is a football man through and through, you have to remember he's a ruthless businessman first. Go back and look at the history of how he ended up with the majority stake in the Raiders and you won't think twice about the word "ruthless" being thrown in next to his name.

And don't even mention Los Angeles.

Davis hired Kiffin and then turned on him like he does on all his coaches not named Madden. There was talk he even considered firing Kiffin last season. A league source said Davis was willing to fire Kiffin if he could get the right guy to take over.

Davis was hoping things got so bad that Kiffin would walk away. Davis hired receivers coach James Lofton without asking Kiffin. Davis shunned Kiffin's request to fire defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. I mean, co-defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. Al would get mad if we didn't acknowledge his other title.

When Davis was interviewing coaches in 2007, one candidate asked the question nobody can seem to answer. Where does the team go when Davis passes away or walks away?

That's a CIA secret. The coach never got his answer. He also didn't take the job. That's the Raiders way. The less you know, the better it is for everyone. That's how the Al Davis mystique grew so large.

The "Ray-dahs" are his team. Not yours. He does things his way. Remember: Just Win, Baby.

Now it's Just Sin, Baby.

Davis is guilty of loads of them.

So take a glass and raise it high today, Lane Kiffin. You are free now, free from the mess that everyone probably warned you about before you took the job.

Who's the next fool to take over? Let's put it this way: He better get some holes in his hands so Al's puppet strings can fit in nicely.

Not to mention some of that California wine to help ease the pain of working for Davis.