1 Art Shell was fired as coach of the Los Angeles Raiders Thursday and will be replaced by assistant Mike White.
2 Shell, an American Pro Football Hall of Famer player with the Raiders who coached the team for six years, was the first black coach in modern National Football League history. He had been with the Raiders for 27 seasons as a player, assistant and coach.
3 The team called a 1 p.m. (2100 GMT) news conference to discuss the changes.
4 'The Raiders expressed gratitude and sincere thanks to Art Shell for his tremendous contribution to the excellence of the organization throughout his 27 years as a Hall of Fame offensive tackle, as an assistant coach and as the head coach,' a team news release said.
5 The firing had been expected since the Raiders missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record after being picked as a preseason favorite to reach the Super Bowl.
6 Shell, who along with Minnesota's Dennis Green, were the only two black NFL head coaches last season. Shell became the seventh NFL coach to leave since the 1994 season began.
7 Shell succeeded Mike Shanahan as the Raiders' coach following the fourth game of the 1989 season. Shell's record with the Raiders was 56-41 and the team made the playoffs in three of his five full seasons.
8 White, a former coach at the University of California and Illinois University, was Shell's offensive line coach the past two years and has been with the team since 1990. He was to be at the news conference Thursday.
9 The Raiders were knocked out of the playoffs on the last day of the regular season after a 19-9 loss to Kansas City at the Coliseum.

Art Shell was fired as coach of the Los Angeles Raiders Thursday and will be replaced by assistant Mike White .
fired
why was he fired