GILBRIDE TO RAIDERS?

On Sunday, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported that Raiders owner Al Davis is interested in possibly hiring Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride to be the team’s next head coach. Gilbride, who has spent nearly five full seasons with the Giants, worked as quarterback Eli Manning’s position coach for three seasons before taking over the offense. And Gilbride fits the profile of a potential Raiders coach. The 57-year-old had one prior stint as an NFL head coach, losing 16 of 22 with the Chargers before being fired six games into the 1998 season. In the following ten years, his name has yet to percolate back to the short-list of head-coaching candidates -- possibly due to his failure in San Diego and possibly because his name still triggers for many images of the fist to the face he took from Buddy Ryan when both were working for the Oilers in the earlt 1990s. “He has no business coaching the pros,” Ryan later said about Gilbride. “He should be selling insurance. . . . He’s a wimp.” Still, Gilbride has presided over the developed of Eli Manning, and Gilbride might provide the Raiders with the last, best chance at salvaging the career of JaMarcus Russell, the first overall pick in the 2007 draft, three years after Eli was the top selection. Of course, if Gilbride were to take the job in Oakland, Davis might finally have to part ways with defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, whose father is Buddy Ryan.