Meet the new Raiders coach, same as the old Raiders coach, even if it took more than a month for Oakland managing general partner Al Davis to settle upon Tom Cable.

Davis promoted Cable from his spot as the offensive line coach the day he fired Lane Kiffin, Sept. 30, on an interim basis. Cable will be introduced as the team's coach on a full-time basis Wednesday afternoon at the team's year-round facility, the team confirmed.

A 37-day search did nothing to persuade Davis that Green Bay Packers assistant head coach/linebackers coach Winston Moss or New York Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride offered a better option and cemented his belief that Cable is the person best suited to turn around the Raiders fortunes.

Cable's ability to keep his players' focus through the end of a sixth straight losing season last year no doubt played a huge role in his keeping the job.

He inherited a 1-3 team that soon dropped to 3-11 and showed signs of another dismal finish. However, victories against the Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the final two games gave the Raiders five victories, or as many as they had in any season from 2003-07.

Cable said at season's end that he feels as if the Raiders are on the right track and not far off from being a playoff contender.

For that to happen, Cable likely will have to do something only Jon Gruden and Bill Callahan accomplished since 1994: get the Raiders to win more than eight games.

Mike White, Joe Bugel, Norv Turner, Art Shell and Lane Kiffin all failed to reach the nine-victory mark in a season. Davis fired each coach. Callahan was fired on the heels of a Super Bowl appearance in his first season by presiding over a 4-12 team in 2003.

Cable has spent the past two seasons with the Raiders. Kiffin hired Cable to be his offensive line coach. That relationship lasted through the 2007 season and four games into last season.

Before long, Cable was directing the whole show, while coaching the offensive line and calling the offensive plays.

Cable stripped departed offensive coordinator Greg Knapp of play-calling duties after only four games — Kiffin held that job the first four games. However, it is believed that Knapp's replacement will be entrusted with calling the plays.

It's conceivable that Cable will reveal his choices for offensive and defensive coordinator Wednesday. Ted Tollner and John Marshall, respectively, are considered the leading candidates.

League rules mandated that Davis interview at least one minority candidate before he hired a coach. Bringing in Moss satisfied that criterion.

Davis also met with Gilbride along the way. Others such as former Giants coach Jim Fassel and former Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick approached Davis about the prospect of interviewing.

In the end, Davis felt most comfortable with Cable. The move makes perfect sense, given Cable's established relationship with Davis, Cable's familiarity with the returning players and the need for continuity with a franchise that has seen its share of instability in recent seasons.

In reality, Davis settled upon Cable long before now. He simply instructed Cable to perform the duties associated with being the coach, evaluated the performance and used that as a means of making sure he had the right man.

Cable's contract expired Jan. 13. Even so, he continued as if nothing had changed since the end of last season.

He interviewed prospective candidates for assistant coaching vacancies, presided over the day-to-day affairs at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., last week, and stepped up his preparation for the 2009 season.