With Pete Carroll fired from his job as head coach of the Raiders on Monday, the next step will be identifying and hiring the next head coach in Las Vegas.
Owner Mark Davis released a statement on Monday that clearly includes Tom Brady as one of the key decision makers in the organization and ESPN’s Adam Schefter backed that message later in the day.
“John Spytek the GM and Tom Brady will, I think, identify and hire the next head coach of the Raiders,” Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show.
“Obviously, Mark Davis will have a big say and some of the other partner owners. But I think Brady and Spytek are out in front of this.”
Last week, a report from league insider Tony Pauline minimized Spytek’s role in two of the biggest decisions of the offseason a year ago.
“According to sources, Spytek did not have much say in the hiring of Carroll,” Pauline reported on Monday.
Pauline also said the Ashon Jeanty pick didn’t come from Spytek as much as it did from Carroll.
“Holding the sixth pick of the 2025 draft, the Raiders selected record-setting running back Ashton Jeanty of Boise State, a Carroll pick,” Pauline said.
“I’m told there was pushback on the selection, as many in and around the organization believed a lineman was the way to go. Defensive tackle Mason Graham was a name making the rounds, as he was seen as a replacement for Wilkins, who the team knew they would be without in 2025. The Raiders had no opportunity to draft Graham, as the Browns selected him with the fifth choice.”
From the outside, it sounds like Spytek and Carroll went into the season hoping to work together well, but that wasn’t the way it played out.
Carroll had a lot of pull within the organization, and maybe rightfully so considering his decorated coaching career.
Maybe we’ll learn more about the dynamic in the building down the road, but Carroll’s decision to stick with Geno Smith, not play many of the rookies, and make a variety of bizarre decisions along the offensive line certainly didn’t earn a lot of confidence from anyone on the outside.
Are there still too many cooks in the kitchen making decisions in Las Vegas?
It’s worth noting that Schefter pointed to at least five people that will be involved in the decision on the next head coach in Las Vegas…
Mark Davis. Tom Brady. John Spytek. Other partner owners (presumably Jim Gray would be among that group).
Maybe that’s a big deal. Maybe it isn’t.
Maybe this will be the year Brady takes ownership of his role in the organization and based on the public statement from Davis on Monday, it sounds like that would be a welcomed development.
Additionally, the outside consensus seems to be that Brady needs to be more involved in everyday decisions, and it will be interesting to see if he leans into that approach a little more in his second season.
x: @raidersbeat
Sorry, but I have about zero confidence in Tom Brady choosing the next coach of the Raiders. He’s a former QB and was good at what he did. Period. That said, I have less than zero confidence in Mark’s ability to run a pro football organization. He’s the rich son of the former great owner. Nothing more, nothing less.
Some things never change……
New power structure? Where has this guy been, under a rock? Brady selected the HC that just got fired! So just ignorant of the owner to double up on Brady leading this team at such a n important offseason. We have a chance to select our franchise QB, but who knows what Brady will do??!! The ONLY hope we fans have is that Brady gets lucky with the draft and staff hiring. He bombed last time.
We need a strong offensive-minded coach like someone from the shanahan tree.