Cable officially Raiders' head coach

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The Oakland Raiders have settled on Tom Cable as the team's head coach, removing his interim tag, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.

The Chronicle reported said the Raiders have called a news conference for Wednesday afternoon to make it official.

The newspaper said last week that Raiders owner Al Davis had decided on Cable to lead the team in 2009, but the club held off on an official announcement.

"This is good news," Raiders center Jake Grove told the Chronicle. "I think most people bought into what he was saying. He showed he can definitely win there. It obviously helped him get the job and gave us momentum going into the off-season.

"He's as honest as they come. He's going to tell you exactly what he thinks and I think that's very refreshing. I think guys respected that."

Cable, 44, will be the organization's 17th head coach. He served as Oakland's interim head coach for the final 12 games of the 2008 season. The Raiders finished the season at 5-11, 4-8 under Cable after Lane Kiffin was fired in September.

Cable joined the Raiders in 2007 as an offensive line coach.

A source told the newspaper Davis also is close to naming John Marshall the team's defensive coordinator and has narrowed the choices for offensive coordinator to either Paul Hackett or Ted Tollner.