After an Associated Press reporter tweeted that Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen had been fired, deleted the tweet, apologized and stated he was never covering the Allen story, the Allen news finally became official around midnight on the East Coast.
The Raiders fell to the Miami Dolphins 38-14 Sunday in London, dropping the club to 0-4 on the season. Allen was just 8-28 in two-plus seasons as Oakland's head coach, but his ouster says more about the organization than the coach it has dismissed. The Raiders' new head coach will be the franchise's eighth since unloading Jon Gruden to Tampa Bay following the 2001 season; Oakland is 64-132 since the move.
Allen, 42, had just one year of coordinator experience and four years as a primary position coach in the NFL before Oakland tapped him to replace Hue Jackson on Jan. 27, 2012. CBS's Jason La Canfora reported Sunday that offensive coordinator Greg Lewis would be "a strong candidate" to take over as head coach.
Needless to say, Oakland is the first NFL franchise to make a coaching change during the 2014 season.