The Raiders settled on a general manager on Wednesday and as many expected, the job went to former Buccaneers assistant GM John Spytek.
Spytek was believed to be the favorite to get the job as far back as last week, and he was somewhat of an obvious choice given his relationship with Tom Brady. Spytek and Brady were teammates at the University of Michigan and Spytek’s influence was a big part of why Brady chose to play for the Buccaneers in 2020.
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter covered the Detroit Lions during Spytek’s time with the Lions and he talked last week (before Spytek was hired) about the reputation Spytek built as an intern with the team.
“I still 100% believe, and it is the conventional wisdom, that Spytek of Tampa Bay is the front runner for this job,” Carpenter said last week on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast. “He played football with Brady at Michigan. They have been very, very close. He was the key ingredient that got him to go to Tampa Bay. Him and Tom [Brady] already have a commonality of interest. They already understand the game the same. They look at the game the same. They scout the game the same.”
“I was told by someone yesterday, they would be stunned if he didn’t get it, just because of their relationship. And again, in the interest of full disclosure, I covered Spytek when he was an intern. I covered the Lions, didn’t specifically cover him. And back then, he was known as the ‘Wiz Kid.’ They would give him two jobs and he would come back with four done. He was into analysis. Everybody knew he wanted to be a GM. He talked about wanting to be a GM… and people had tremendous respect for him even as a young intern. He was so thorough.”
With Spytek now in the Raiders building, the team can work toward hiring their next head coach, and the top candidates for the job are believed to be Pete Carroll and Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
There are others who have interviewed with the Raiders for their head coaching vacancy, but for now, it looks like Carroll and Spagnuolo are the front runners, with Carroll possibly having a slight edge.
Earlier in the week, The Athletic’s Vic Tafur called Carroll the Raiders’ “top option” of the remaining coaching candidates, and it will be interesting to see if that changes with Spytek now directly involved in the search.
“The Raiders have to turn to their alternatives, and former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is believed to be the Raiders’ top option, according to league sources,” Tafur reported on Monday night. “Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is also believed to be a strong candidate, but many around the league expect him to wind up with the New Orleans Saints, the team he played for and coached for, or the New York Jets, who he also played for.”
Since Monday, Glenn has been hired by the Jets and there have been reports that he is open to the idea of Aaron Rodgers returning to New York for another year.
That should be an interesting development to enjoy from a distance.
x: @raidersbeat
Raiders should give Kellen Moore from the Eagles a call.
Get someone from a winning organization and culture.
Instead of a 73 year old who is way past his prime.
Chip Kelly should also get a call from the Raiders.
Maybe coen will change his mind
We didn’t need a wizz kid. There were other good options. Brady, you really hanging your hat on a college buddy?
Agreed. We should have stuck with Telesco but Brady wants to experiment playing Ownerball with the franchise.
I still can’t believe Davis is letting Brady run this organization. Hiring his buddies from college.
What’s next? All our draft picks are coming from Michigan?
Brady is a clown and doomed to fail.
Come on, Tommy. If you’re going to play pocket pool, play with your own pockets.