Raiders fire coach Jack Del Rio opening door for possible return of Jon Gruden by Josh Dubow on Dec 31, 2017, 8:52 PM Advertisement
 - The Oakland Raiders have fired Jack Del Rio.
- The Raiders were a popular preseason pick to be a contender in the AFC, but fell to 6-10 this season.
- The firing will add more fuel to the speculation of Jon Gruden returning to the Raiders.
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio was fired Sunday after his third year when the impressive turnaround job he engineered for his hometown team collapsed with a disappointing six-win season.
Del Rio said owner Mark Davis told him after the team's season-ending 30-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday that he would not be retained as coach in Oakland. Del Rio had signed a four-year contract extension last February after Oakland ended a 13-year playoff drought with a 12-win season. The Raiders followed that up by becoming one of the league's disappointing teams. Oakland went 6-10 for the second biggest one-season drops in wins in franchise history, leading to Del Rio's firing and raising speculation that former coach Jon Gruden could be in line for a second stint as Raiders coach. Gruden was traded by the Raiders to Tampa Bay following the 2001 season and beat Oakland for the Super Bowl title the following season. He was fired by the Buccaneers following the 2008 season and has been in the broadcast booth since then. ESPN reported Saturday that the Raiders were interested in bringing Gruden back. Davis has always been intrigued about a second stint with Gruden but it seemed unlikely the franchise would be in for another change heading into this season. Del Rio had been the ninth coach in Oakland since Gruden left but the only one to get the team to the playoffs. He took over a three-win team in 2015 and immediately changed the culture and helped Oakland win seven games that season. The Raiders had a breakthrough season in 2016 with 12 wins but it ended in disappointment when a broken leg for quarterback Derek Carr in Week 16 cost the Raiders a chance at a division title and led to a first-round playoff loss. Expectations were high coming into this year with Carr and most of the key offensive pieces back, along with the addition of running back Marshawn Lynch and tight end Jared Cook. But Del Rio's decision to fire coordinator Bill Musgrave after last season despite a dynamic offense and replace him with quarterbacks coach Todd Downing backfired. The offense regressed significantly this season as Carr struggled under Downing's tutelage and the defense showed no signs of improvement before firing coordinator Ken Norton Jr. after 10 games. The Raiders had major drops in scoring (26 to 18.8), yards per game (373.3 to 324.1) and committed twice as many turnovers (14 to 28) this season as Carr took a major step back in his development after signing a $125 million, five-year extension in the offseason. The defense became the first in NFL history to fail to record on interception in the first 10 games of the season and generated only 14 takeaways all season compared to 30 in 2016. That all led to the decision to fire Del Rio, whose 187 games as a head coach are the most for anyone without a division title in his career. ___ More AP NFL: pro32.ap.org and twitter.com/AP_NFL SEE ALSO: The Raiders are reportedly planning to aggressively pursue Jon Gruden and could offer him a stake in the team, but there is a huge catch
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