Tom Cable Thomas Lee " Tom " Cable , Jr . ( born November 26 , 1964 ) is an American football coach , and is the offensive line coach and assistant head coach of the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL . He played college football at Idaho and was on the replacement team for the Indianapolis Colts during the 1987 NFL players ' strike . After being an assistant coach for several college football teams , as well as head coach at Idaho , Cable became an offensive line coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons & Oakland Raiders NFL teams and served as head coach for the Raiders from 2008 to 2010 becoming the most successful Raider Coach Since 2002 . Early life . Cable was born in Merced , California , US . He played high school football in Snohomish , Washington , northeast of Seattle . He graduated from Snohomish High School in 1982 and accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Idaho from first - time head coach Dennis Erickson . Playing career . Cable played on the offensive line for the Idaho Vandals for head coaches Dennis Erickson and Keith Gilbertson , blocking for quarterback Scott Linehan . Idaho won the Big Sky title in 1985 and advanced to the Division I - AA playoffs in 1985 and 1986 . He was a member of the 1987 Indianapolis Colts strike replacement team , but did not play in the two games he was on the team ' s active roster . Coaching career . College . Cable then embarked on a career as a college football coach . He was a graduate assistant for three years and an assistant coach for a decade , ascending to offensive coordinator at Colorado in 1999 . On December 13 , 1999 , he became the head coach at his alma mater , with a three - year contract at $ 170 , 000 per year ( $ 120 , 000 base and $ 50 , 000 media bonus ) plus $ 30 , 000 in incentives . He succeeded fellow alumnus Chris Tormey , who had departed earlier in the month after five seasons for Nevada . At Idaho , Cable ' s first year in 2000 was his best , with a 5 - 6 record . He managed only six victories in the next three seasons , resulting in a disappointing record of 11 - 35 ( . 239 ) , in four losing seasons . Following the 2003 season , Cable became the first Vandal head football coach fired in 22 years ; his four predecessors had all achieved success in Moscow and moved on . Cable then became the offensive coordinator at UCLA for two seasons ( 2004 - 05 ) under head coach Karl Dorrell , a former colleague at Colorado . Atlanta Falcons . Cable entered the professional ranks as a coach in 2006 as the offensive line coach for the NFL ' s Atlanta Falcons , under head coach Jim Mora . Mora was dismissed at the end of the season and Cable moved on . Oakland Raiders . He joined the Oakland Raiders as offensive line coach for the 2007 season , under first year head coach Lane Kiffin . Four games into the 2008 season , Kiffin was fired by owner Al Davis and Cable was named the interim head coach . The Raiders finished the 2008 season with a 4 - 8 record under Cable , but improved statistically in many categories . On February 4 , 2009 , Cable was officially introduced as the Raiders new head coach . Davis had made his decision nearly a week before , but did not want to interfere with the Super Bowl . Davis also gave Cable time off prior to that due to the death of Cable ' s father . On January 4 , 2011 , Raiders ' owner Al Davis informed Cable that his contract would not be renewed , ending his tenure with the organization . During his time as head coach , Cable had a 17 - 27 record , including a record of 8 - 8 in his final season , going 6 - 0 in the division for the first time in franchise history . The offensive coordinator , Hue Jackson succeeded him as head coach . The Raiders rushing attack ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in 2007 ( 6th ) and 2008 ( 10th ) behind his offensive lines . Seattle Seahawks . Two weeks later on January 18 , 2011 , Cable was hired by the Seattle Seahawks as offensive line coach and assistant head coach , under head coach Pete Carroll . In collaboration with offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell , the two spearheaded Seattle ’ s rushing attack to become one of the best over the last - half of the 2011 season . Behind his lines , the Seahawks running game ranked fifth in the NFL with 1 , 212 rush yards ( Weeks 9 - 17 ) , posted 100 - plus team rushing yards in eight of its last nine games , including a six - game streak that was its longest since the 2002 - 03 seasons . Seattle ’ s line once ranked as the third youngest in the NFL , but with injuries to rookie RT James Carpenter and RG John Moffitt , and second - year LT Russell Okung , the Seahawks line finished as the seventh - youngest in the league . Despite that , Cable plugged away and maintained a solid unit as Seattle ’ s line paved the way for Marshawn Lynch ’ s career - year in carries ( 285 ) , yards ( 1 , 204 ) and rushing touchdowns ( 12 ) . Lynch also led the league the last half of the season with 941 yards and nine touchdowns , rushing for 100 - plus in six of the last nine games and became Seattle ’ s first 1 , 000 - yard rusher since Shaun Alexander ( 2005 ) . In 2012 he coached the Seattle Seahawks to the First road playoff win since 1983 . Personal life . Cable is married with four children : Amanda , Alexander , Zachary , and Ryan . Cable ' s third cousin is Canadian sportscaster Cam Stewart . Coaching tree . NFL head coaches under whom Tom Cable has served : Assistant coaches under Tom Cable who became NFL head coaches :