In a surprise & shocking move that absolutely no one saw coming, Lane Kiffin was fired as Oakland Raiders head coach on Tuesday.

(”Sorry, I’ve got something in my eye“)

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that Al Davis couldn’t ever bear to tell Lane the sad news in person - so he just phoned him up:

Unlike the St. Louis Rams, who fired coach Scott Linehan on Monday, the news was not delivered by Davis in a face-to-face meeting. Kiffin was notified by a team executive Tuesday morning that Davis would call him at 9:15 a.m. PST to relieve the coach of his duties. The call came shortly after that time.

No need for any of the Raiders’ roster to say a tearful toodle-oo to their now ex-head coach, since they won’t get the chance:

Linehan also was allowed to speak briefly with his players on Monday. Kiffin will not be afforded the same opportunity, a source said.

Lane ends his career in the East Bay with a 5-15 record - a whopping .250 winning percentage. Syracuse, here he comes!

In the meantime, the demented Davis has already been interviewing in-house replacements - offensive line coach Tom Cable, offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, and special consultant Paul Hackett.

We hope Hackett gets the job, since he’s had such great success leading California football teams before.