ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Reggie McKenzie made clear on his first day as Raiders general manager that there's a new regime in Oakland.

Soon after officially signing his contract to be the first general manager since longtime owner Al Davis' death, McKenzie fired coach Hue Jackson in a bold first move as he looks to give the organization a fresh start.

"There comes a time when change is necessary," McKenzie said Tuesday. "For the Raiders the time is now. The Raiders organization, with respect and deference for all its tradition and history, is about to embark on a new era."

The era will begin without Jackson, who was fired after going 8-8 in his first season as head coach. McKenzie wanted to bring in his "own guy" to rebuild the organization.

When reached by CSNBayArea.com, an angry Jackson said, "(McKenzie) is going to gut this place."

"He wants to bring in his own guys. No job is safe right now," Jackson told the website.

Since 2002, the Raiders have had six different head coaches and all have lasted fewer than three full seasons. Since the start of the 1996 season, the Raiders have had nine different head coaches, the most of any team over that span, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Finding the next coach will be the first major task for McKenzie, who also must bulk up the personnel department and evaluate the roster in what promises to be a busy offseason.

Owner Mark Davis said McKenzie will decide on the new coach and the personnel decisions, with the coach ultimately reporting to the general manager.

That's a major change from how the organization was run before Davis' father, Al, died of heart failure on Oct. 8. Al Davis made all the major decisions when he was in charge of the team, with many of those now falling to McKenzie as Mark Davis focuses on finding a new stadium and other off-field issues.

"Change happened on October 8th," Davis said. "The one thing I know is what I don't know. The one thing I did know was I needed to bring the right people in here. ... My feeling always has been that if my father wasn't here we needed someone to run that football side of the building. I needed to find the right person. I truly believe that Reggie McKenzie is the right man for this job."