The Raiders got great news at the end of the season when they secured the no. 1 pick in the draft, but the organization still has a lot to sort out before Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza will join the team in an official capacity in April.
Before the end of the month, Tom Brady and company will commit to a new head coach, which GM John Spytek acknowledged will be one of the two biggest decisions of the offseason.
But there is also the matter of the team’s organizational structure that has been largely ignored with all the excitement around Mendoza’s emergence in the college football playoff.
Former Raiders’ CEO Amy Trask talked about a divisive force within the organization back in November, and she followed up on those comments last week. The name that keeps coming up is Jim Gray.
“The one name that intrigues me the most is John Harbaugh. Boy, would it be fun to have two Harbaughs in the AFC West,” Trask said on CBS Sports HQ of the team’s search for a head coach.
“But irrespective of the coach they hire, they have got to address internal issues, create a collaborate environment where no one is operating behind the scenes, and I’m not simply referencing Tom Brady. Team owner Mark Davis did say that Tom will have a more prominent role, but there’s also Jim Gray that needs to be addressed,” Trask continued. “They’ve just got to create a collaborate environment where everybody is to use the phrase rowing or pulling their oars in the same direction.”
“No ill will against Tom, but it’s not just Tom there. The gentleman who orchestrated Tom’s purchase of an interest in the Raiders, Jim Gray, is still very involved behind the scenes. The reason I bring that up is to create an environment in which everyone is working together. They’re communicating, they’re cooperating, they’re coordinating, they’re collaborating. Those are the words that I believe are most important in a business. They’ve got to address that internally, so that whoever the coach is, he can succeed.”
What would be interesting to know is what direction Trask feels Gray is trying to pull the organization?
Is he focused on gaining more control within the organization in some way?
It’s hard to imagine a sportscaster would want more pull on the football side of operations, but until Trask clarifies what she is referring to, all we can do is speculate.
For what it’s worth, Trasks comments in November suggested the situation with Gray going on behind the scenes was affecting Pete Carroll and the team on the field.
“There are, of course, on field problems, but there are also a lot of problems off the field behind the scenes,” Trask said in November.
“Many people assume when I say ‘behind the scenes’ that I’m referring to Tom Brady, but I’m not. The individual who orchestrated Tom’s purchase in the Raiders of the limited partnership interest in the Raiders, Jim Gray, has been working to orchestrate the purchase of an interest in the [team] since Al [Davis] was alive and we were in the process of selling a minority interest in the team,” Trask continued.
“Well, he finally orchestrated the purchase and now he is involved in every aspect, or almost every aspect, of the organization. This is having an impact on the organization, not only off the field, but on the field. Pete Carroll is a very good head coach, but the problems we’re seeing on the field are related to the problems that are rampant throughout the organization. They’ve got to fix the off-field behind the scenes issues in order to give Pete a chance to be his best.”
And to button up Trask’s comments on Gray and the Raiders in the last few months… she also believes Maxx Crosby will remain with the team going forward, in part because of his business ties with ownership.
She even tagged Brady and Gray on X with her message…
x: @raidersbeat
Mr.Davis,
Tell that knucklehead Jim Gray to shut his pie hole and no more interfering with discissions pertaining to the Raiders. He clearly has no clue what is going on. Don’t even let him in the building.
Well said
If Jim Gray really is an influential person in the organization, that’s depressing. It means it will be really hard to clear the building of toxic, unqualified people, as Gray would be a Brady guy, and Mark ain’t giving Brady the boot.
What the Raiders need is similar to what the 49ers needed in 2017. Since Jed York had taken over as owner, the Niners had been one of the leakiest operations around, with everyone politicking and trying to deflect blame. Sound familiar? When Shanahan and Lynch came in, they put an end to most of that. No more Paraag Marathe as shadow partner, leaking negative stories about the team’s own staff. Marathe stayed, but focused on the contracts and cap management areas where he excelled (maybe the best in the business at getting players to sign team friendly deals and working the cap), but the back-stabbing was mostly gone, and it’s been mostly happily ever after as Shanahan is maybe the best coach in football not named Andy Reid. Is there anyone the Raiders could hire who would have the credibility to even suggest Jim Gray, and possibly even Brady himself, take a backseat? Hard to think of one. Even Harbaugh.
How did Jim Grey even become come a part of this organization, It seems between him and MD, they should just walk away from anything football. Hell Tom Brady definitely shouldn’t be making any suggestions when it comes to hiring the right coach. Are we serious! There’s no more Commitment To Excellence, they need to get that back, along with players that aren’t soft
Gray is a Remora. He attached himself to Al and blew smoke up his arse for decades. Al denied him so he buddied up to Mark. He probably holds some BS fictitious,”Your dad would be”, over Mark and he cowers and caves.
One thing for sure is Amy knows. And she shoots straight.
As far as I’m concerned, every single person combined on ownership has one job: either give Spytek full autonomy to run the team, or find someone that think candy on it better.
After that decision, Gray, Brady, Mark all need to agree to stay out of everything else, with the possible exception of approvals over significant spending. For instance, if they want to put a cap on overall coach spend, fine. Give the GM the number and let him work within the budget. With an agreement to keep all their egos out of the equation, there’s no more chance for friction. They only need to decide as an ownership group whether the GM is fulfilling their job to their satisfaction.
Ameer Abdullah, Josh Jacobs, Davante Adams, Robert Spillane, Demico Autry, Jacobi Meyers all did well for other teams, this year. These players were not the problem, Raiders “leadership” ( or more accurately the lack thereof) was. Tre Tucker’s and Michael Mayer’s “problems” are the Raiders organization, most specifically offensive line and inept quarterback play. If anyone doubts this then watch them go to another team and be productive. The Raiders need, in addition to a competent offensive line, veteran quarterback depth, namely Malik Willis as the starter, Joshua Dobbs as the backup and a rookie who won’t be under pressure to start immediately. That’s how you add competent depth at this position.
Zamir White, Dillon Laube, Tyree Wilson, Kenny Pickett, Geno Smith and Adian O’Connell all need to be let go. Additionally, it wouldn’t hurt to address the (not so) Special teams. The offensive line and Special Teams coaches could use a serious upgrade. It seems that we are stuck with the guys who call themselves “Raiders Management,” so let’s see how they, this year, address last year’s “team” that they put on the field. No matter what they do, all the sportswriters will talk about is how things are looking up, until the team actually starts playing games.
Jacob’s held out. Got paid and came back out of shape and didn’t want to be here. White’s production equaled Spillane’s. Abdullah? What? Really.
O’Connell could start and be a top 10 Q in a stable offense. You’re blind if you can’t see that. You watch if he leaves how quick he gets signed.
Mayer is starter quality.
The rest u agree with you. It’s pretty sad and very evident that Tyree Wilson’s last game was a payday game. He has the talent. He proved that. But he also proved he’s lazy and has no heart or integrity.