Al Davis ripped Lane Kiffin publicly when he fired him as Raiders head coach in 2008, repeatedly calling him a liar and saying he had disgraced the organization.

Core quotes: what Davis actually said

In his now‑famous overhead‑projector press conference on September 30, 2008, Davis described Kiffin as a “flat‑out liar,” “professional liar,” and “con man.”

He said Kiffin had been spreading “propaganda” and “lying” for months and was “bringing disgrace to the organization.”

Davis also said, “I think he conned me like he conned all you people,” referring to the media, underscoring how personally he felt misled.

How Davis explained the firing

Davis used the press conference to walk through a long list of grievances, even projecting a letter he’d written to Kiffin that detailed mistakes on and off the field.

He said he fired Kiffin “for cause,” insisting he shouldn’t have to pay out the remainder of the contract because Kiffin had “disgraced” the Raiders and divided the coaching staff.

He admitted, “It hurts because I picked the guy. I picked the wrong guy,” saying he had reached a point where the coaching staff was “fractionalized” and a change was the only way to move forward.

Media and fan reaction

The spectacle of Davis sitting behind an overhead projector, reading the letter line by line, quickly became one of the most talked‑about and replayed moments in modern NFL front‑office drama.

Former Raiders executive Amy Trask later described how chaotic the reaction was inside the building, with sponsors, season‑ticket holders, and fans flooding the team with calls after the press conference.

In the years since, that press conference has lived on in highlight packages, YouTube clips, and forum debates as one of the most dramatic owner‑vs‑coach breakups in NFL history.

TL;DR: Al Davis said Lane Kiffin was a “flat‑out liar,” “professional liar,” and “con man” who spread “propaganda,” disgraced the Raiders, and “conned” both Davis and the media, using a highly public, overhead‑projector press conference to justify firing him for cause.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.