On paper, the Raiders decision to hire Mike Mayock looks like a good one. Jon Gruden doesn’t have a great track record as a personnel chief and the Raiders have pivotal personnel decisions coming in the months ahead.
Gruden may have respected Reggie McKenzie, but he didn’t often listen to his former general manager and according to theMMQB’s Albert Breer, that’s a dynamic the organization was hoping to change with their newest personnel executive.
Raiders brass wanted someone in the GM role who'll push back on Jon Gruden. If I know @MikeMayock, I know he'll have no problem being that guy.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 31, 2018
What that means (assuming it’s true) is that either the Raiders aren’t overwhelmingly sold on Gruden’s ability as a personnel head or recognize a need for a stronger voice in the building. Either way, it’s an interesting development because it’s widely known that Gruden has essentially been running the building since he joined the Raiders.
When McKenzie was in charge, he was known to often defer to his coaches and scouts. When Gruden arrived, it certainly seemed from the outside that McKenzie conceded to most (or all) of Gruden’s ideas and it shaped what turned out to be a generally miserable season on the field. Assuming Mayock has already earned Gruden’s trust, it should be a good thing that Gruden can focus more on the field and less on day-to-day personnel matters.
For what it’s worth, Gruden’s deal might be worth $100 million, but there have been rumors that the guaranteed money is actually much less. As much as anything else, Gruden probably needs to prove himself as a head coach again because if he can’t carry his weight in that position, the rest of his roles become irrelevant anyway.
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