Oakland Raiders promote Hue Jackson to head coach

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Hue Jackson will take over as head coach of the Raiders, the team announced Monday.

Jackson, who was the offensive coordinator at USC from 1997-2000, took over as Oakland’s offensive coordinator this season and helped the team double its scoring from 2009 to 25.6 points in 2010, sixth best in the NFL. The Raiders finished with an 8-8 record to break a streak of seven consecutive losing seasons. He was widely considered a leading candidate to replace Tom Cable, whose option was not renewed earlier this month.

This is Jackson’s first head coaching position at the college or pro level. The Los Angeles native previously was an offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins as well as California.

‘The fire in Hue will set a flame that will burn for a long time in the hearts and minds of the Raider football team and the Raider Nation,’ owner Al Davis said in a statement.

Tight end Zach Miller gave credit to Jackson for helping turn the Oakland offense around.

‘We were pretty bad last year on offense,’ Miller said of 2009. ‘To have a turnaround like that is a great credit to our players and coach Jackson.’

--Dan Loumena

Associated Press contributed to this report.