The Oakland Raiders have fired head coach Dennis Allen, according to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports. There is no word yet on who will replace him.
Dennis Allen fired by Raiders
The coach has been let go after Oakland started 0-4.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Raiders dropped to 0-4 on Sunday after a 38-14 loss to the Miami Dolphins in London. It was Oakland's ninth consecutive defeat under Allen reaching back to last season. Allen, whose one season as the Denver Broncos defensive coordinator in 2011 was the highest level of coaching on his resume when he was hired as the Raiders' head man in 2012, went 4-12 in each of his first two seasons in Oakland and leaves with a combined record of 8-28.
Rumors of Allen’s firing were thick in the air heading into Sunday’s game and reached a fever pitch Sunday afternoon when AP reporter Terry Collins tweeted that owner Mark Davis had finally dropped the axe. Collins later backtracked, saying that the firing had not been confirmed by the AP and apologizing.
The pressure on Allen to succeed this season was amplified by the fact that Davis is trying to secure a stadium for next season, and an 0-4 start isn’t the type of buzz the franchise needs.
At least one member of the locker room voiced his preference to keep Allen after the loss on Sunday.
"I ain't never seen it work out for good and I aint in the business of just chalking the season up for a loss and just accepting being a loser the rest of the year," veteran defensive end Antonio Smith said, according to Levi Damien of Silver and Black Pride. "That aint why I came here, that aint in my heart, and that aint what I want, so I don't think that's the course of action that we should take because I think that when that do happen, most of the time it's because we done chalked it up for a loss and just let the season be whatever the season is. And that aint in my heart."
Update: The Raiders informed Allen he was fired over the phone, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
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