2007 Oakland Raiders season  The 2007 Oakland Raiders season was the 48th overall season of the Oakland Raiders franchise, the franchise's 38th season in the National Football League, their 13th season since their return to Oakland and the 1st season under head coach Lane Kiffin. The team finished the season with a 4–12 record. It began with the team's fourth head coach in six seasons. By virtue of the team's 2–14 finish in 2006 (the worst in the NFL for that year), they acquired the first overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. With that first pick, the Raiders selected LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who went on to be one of the greatest busts in NFL history. As in 2005 and 2006, the Raiders faced both participants from the previous season's Super Bowl. In 2007, they had home games scheduled against the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts from Super Bowl XLI. They lost to both teams. The first casualty of the Raiders' disastrous 2006 season was head coach Art Shell, who was fired on January 4, 2007. His career record as head coach of the Raiders (including playoffs) was 58–56. The team interviewed a number of candidates after Shell's firing, including San Diego Chargers assistant coach James Lofton, former New York Giants head coach Jim Fassel, and Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. USC assistant head coach Steve Sarkisian, considered to be the front runner for the position, withdrew his name from consideration on January 19. On January 22, the team announced the hiring of 31-year-old USC offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, the youngest coach in franchise history and the youngest coach in the NFL. Kiffin's first staffing hire was former Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, who accepted the same position in Oakland on January 28. Oakland signed Super Bowl winning running back Dominic Rhodes away from the Indianapolis Colts on March 9, 2007. The next day, the Raiders brought in Justin Griffith from the Atlanta Falcons to help the blocking game. With the first overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft the Raiders selected quarterback JaMarcus Russell from LSU. With Josh McCown getting the start at quarterback, the Raiders began their 2007 campaign at home in an interconference fight with the Detroit Lions. After a scoreless first quarter, Oakland trailed early as Lions QB Jon Kitna completed a 13-yard TD pass to WR Roy Williams. Detroit increased its lead before halftime with kicker Jason Hanson getting a 46-yard field goal. In the third quarter, the Lions continued with their early lead as Kitna completed a 16-yard TD pass to WR Calvin Johnson.