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That the Raiders doubled their win total (to four!) last season isn't reason to think Lane Kiffin has begun the arduous task of turning things around. But despite the record, the team did show improvement and was competitive in most of their games.

With the crypt keeper still calling the shots, though, things could quickly deteriorate. There were rumors that owner Al Davis wanted Kiffin to resign. Kiffin refused, and it looked like his job might be safe after he interviewed James Lofton for the wide receivers job.

Yeah, not quite. From the Oakland Tribune's Jerry McDonald:

It turns out that James Lofton has agreed to terms to join the Raiders as an unspecified assistant coach, most likely wide receivers, and although Kiffin conducted the interview, he had nothing to do with the hire.

That bit of news came Wednesday night from a team source I trust, and pretty much ruins my growing belief that things appeared to be working themselves out between Kiffin and owner Al Davis.

Awesome. The Raiders refute the claim, so who knows what to think.

Here's my question: if Davis is unhappy with Kiffin why didn't he just give defensive coordinator Rob Ryan the job last year? I know Davis has done a lot for the NFL, and it's important to keep that in mind, but it shouldn't obscure the fact that the Raiders are a joke. Thankfully, Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato are in charge of things in Washington, so Oakland won't be alone at the bottom.