Kiffin - Senior Bowl

He admitted he has "a lot of homework," and study hall begins this weekend.

Raiders coach Lane Kiffin and his staff will head to Mobile, Ala., for the Jan. 26 Senior Bowl. Kiffin will coach a North team that will feature seven USC players that he knows well from his time with the Trojans.

Kiffin's Senior Bowl experience will give him a head start on the scouting process, he hopes, after not being able to follow the college game during the season.

"What is neat is that a number of these names that will come out, I will have had background with them and know their families through recruiting," Kiffin said at the end of the Raiders' season in December. "Know who they are and the type of competitors they are, stuff that you have to research and find, so that helps a little bit."

Kiffin, who was USC's offensive coordinator before the Raiders hired him, obviously knows Trojans players best. But whomever he watches, it's with an eye toward filling some big holes.

Defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis would help the Raiders fill the void left by Warren Sapp's retirement.

Of the USC contingent, Ellis is the only projected top-10 pick. Pending a coin flip with Atlanta, the Raiders will select third or fourth in the first round of the NFL draft.

Offensive tackle Sam Baker is an All-American with experience in the Raiders' blocking scheme.

With left tackle Barry Sims going into his 10th season, a trade down for Baker in the draft could make sense in the first round.

Defensive end Lawrence Jackson would add depth and the potential of being another pass rusher.

Quarterback John David Booty, tight end Fred Davis, offensive lineman Drew Radovich, linebacker Keith Rivers and running back Chauncey Washington are the other USC players selected to play in the game.

Kiffin will have at his disposal other players with whom he is familiar because of his Pacific-10 Conference ties.

Cal will send wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins, running back Justin Forsett and safety Thomas DeCoud to the game. If Kiffin likes Hawkins, he can always ask quarterback JaMarcus Russell about him.

Hawkins went to LSU as a freshman before transferring and finishing his college career at Cal.

No more rumors, please

There hasn't been much made of the Raiders' defensive coordinator situation the last two weeks.

And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended any far-fetched dreams of a Kiffin family reunion in Oakland.

The team signed Lane's father, defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, to an extension Friday.

Monte Kiffin, whose defenses have ranked in the top 10 in 10 of the last 11 seasons, had been rumored to replace Rob Ryan with the Raiders.

Ryan, however, was not fired by the Raiders and will coach at the Senior Bowl.

Resurfacing

The Raiders re-signed running back Adimchinobe Echemandu. He was a standout in training camp last summer after joining the Raiders in 2006 as a practice-squad player.

He was cut by the Raiders to make room for running back Dominic Rhodes after he served a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

Echemandu signed with Houston after the Raiders let him go but was cut before the season finale.