There has been no shortage of news and rumors around the Raiders head coaching search in the 15 days since Antonio Pierce was fired, but the team is also on day 13 of looking for a new GM.
Former GM Tom Telesco was fired two days after Pierce was terminated and the decision to move on from Telesco after one season came as a surprise to many.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter was ahead of the curve on the Ben Johnson story going back to last week, but even Schefter was sideswiped by the Telesco news.
There have been twists and turns to the Raiders GM and head coaching search, but according to The Athletic’s Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed, there is believed to be a leader in the clubhouse for the GM job.
“The Raiders had in-person interviews with Giants assistant GM Brandon Brown and Los Angeles Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander on Monday. They’ve also done virtual interviews with Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant GM John Spytek, Pittsburgh Steelers director of pro personnel Sheldon White and Green Bay Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan,” Tafur and Reed reported this week.
Among the names on the list, it’s Tom Brady’s former college teammate that is said to be in the pole position for the GM job.
“Spytek was part of the front office that brought Brady to Tampa Bay in 2020 and was his college teammate at Michigan. He’s now believed to be the front-runner at GM, according to league sources,” Tafur and Reed continued.
With Ben Johnson now in Chicago, the GM candidates with connections to Johnson now fall behind Spytek as the favorite in Las Vegas, and it’s fair to wonder if Brady might have been pushing for Spytek (who is currently the assistant GM in Tampa Bay) even when Johnson was still in the mix for the Raiders job.
League insider Josina Anderson was one of three insiders out in front of the news on Johnson going to the Bears and she made an interesting series of statements on Brady and his new role within the Raiders on her Tuesday podcast.
Based on her comments, it seems like the most important alignment in Las Vegas from Brady’s perspective will be the one between him and the next general manager. If that’s the case, it shouldn’t be hard to figure out why Spytek is the reported front runner to be the team’s next GM.
The Athletic is also reporting Pete Carroll is believed to be at the top of the list in the Raiders search for Pierce’s replacement.
“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 said. “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.”
Along with Carroll, some have pointed to Tampa Bay’s Liam Coen as a head coaching option for the Raiders, especially with his connection to Spytek.
But according to Schefter on Wednesday morning, Coen has taken his name out of the running for heac coaching jobs in this year’s hiring cycle and has agreed to a new contract to remain with the Buccaneers as their offensive coordinator.
The other coordinator the Raiders should strongly consider is Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo. There might not be a more respected defensive coordinator in the NFL and Spagnuolo’s knowledge of the AFC West, including the Raiders, would be invaluable to an organization that needs every advantage they can get in the most difficult division in the AFC.
x: @raidersbeat
This makes no sense. Why do we want anyone from the Giants organization? They are a dumpster fire.
Also, why are we interviewing Chagers personnel when the best one they had, Tom Telesco, we just fired?
This would be a comedy if it weren’t so tragic.
Because it’s Mark no clue Davis still leading this shyt show!
Spags is a very good coordinator and that is all, he failed miserably as a HC.
What the ****? He’s been the leading candidate since Tommy Boy told Sparkie Mark to fire Telesco. Catch up!
We don’t want no stinkin’ Chief no matter how good he could turn out to be.
Why is everyone reporting that Pete Carroll is frontrunner to our next HC. If he really is, then why are the Raiders dragging their feet to bring him in for a face to face interview. I swear the Raiders dont no how to do business. You think if Carroll is their guy ,that they’d hire him ASAP so he can put a staff together and start scouting college players at the senior bowl . As for the GM job…so we’re gonna hire this guy spytex just cause he’s friends with Brady. Not because he’s the best option out there to be GM. Personally I think Chad Alexander is a better choice. He worked under one of the best GMs in Ozzie Newsome. The Raiders just do business in a backwards way. If I was Pete Carroll I’d take my name out contention to be their HC… because all he’ll do is come here and fail just like anybody that comes here would.
Your level of dissatisfaction suggests that you should find another team. This is Davis’ franchise and that’s not going to change. That means rhe change is up to you.
bs wake up chip its now a brady organization with davis being his fanboi, neither of which has the obvious ability to run an nfl franchise . they are flailing and the fans have every right to be unhappy with the raiders errr ….the braiders directiion
Why? Mak hasn’t proven Jack crap since being owner & throws out fans who ask for McDaniels to be fired.
He’s a coward that should sell
Owners change all the time. The level of stupidity shown by Mark Davis as an owner so far shows that he is clearly incompetent.
Who lets a person with no experience take over managing a franchise the way he’s letting Brady do now?
He needs to sell this team because he has no idea what he’s doing.
And the end results so painfully bear this out.😕
Come on Insiders, who is going in and out of Raiders headquarters who they talking to come on!!
The Raiders will screw around and finally select a HC once all other teams make their HC hires. They continue to be a badly run organization. Our only hope is new ownership. The Davis’ have done enough damage.
Come on guys, Hire someone already! Every team in the league has or is hiring and the Raiders just keep interviewing.
Make a decision before the ones you like go somewhere else or just take their name out of the running. Get someone in place so the team can start building earlier than they did last year. this team is really difunctional at the top, and it shows dramatically, which is why they lost Ben Johnson, that and the fact that the team has no QB, Coach, GM, OC/DC.
Hey there, Marky Davis. You grew it, you chew it.