Tom Brady’s influence? Timeline? What we’re hearing about the Raiders’ coach and GM search (original) (raw)

HENDERSON, Nev. — At least Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis is doing things differently this time around. Or Tom Brady is, but more on that in a second.

After firing head coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco two days apart last week, Davis will hire his fifth GM and sixth head coach since becoming the controlling owner in 2011. It’s no coincidence the Raiders have had just two winning seasons in that timeframe.

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While Davis is, for the most part, hands-off when it comes to making football operations decisions, he doesn’t get a pass for doing a terrible job of hiring the people who are making them.

Davis hasn’t shied away from shouldering that blame, and he’s now dramatically revamping his approach. That began by altering the ownership structure. Last year, Davis sold 25.5 percent of the franchise. Silver Lake co-CEO and Endeavor board chairman Egon Durban and Discovery Land Company founder and chairman Michael Meldman each acquired the largest stakes at 7.5 percent each, but their influence is on the business side. The same goes for co-founder of Knighthead Capital Management Tom Wagner, who purchased 5 percent.

When it comes to Brady, the legendary quarterback who also purchased 5 percent, and Hall of Fame defensive lineman Richard Seymour, who purchased 0.5 percent, the focus is football. Brady, in particular, has already displayed a heavy influence.

Brady reached out to North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick. Although Belichick communicated that he had no plans to leave his current position — and the call may only have been to get advice — a tone was set.

Brady traveled to Las Vegas last week and met with Davis, among others, before the Raiders fired Telesco on Thursday. Telesco’s firing came as a surprise but, after consulting with Brady and others, Davis decided that the best path forward for Las Vegas was to start with a clean slate.

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Davis has not spoken to the media since the firings, and when he does, the guess is that he will downplay the role of Brady, who by all accounts wants to resume his broadcasting career with Fox. He would need to convince the NFL that he is only in an advisory role with the Raiders as opposed to running the team, which several league sources are convinced he is doing.

Davis has also changed his process when it comes to targeting candidates for both the GM and head coach openings, hiring the search firm Korn Ferry to help compile a list of potential candidates.

Here’s what else we’re hearing about where things stand with the Raiders’ ongoing head coach and GM searches.

Head coach

The two hottest candidates league-wide are Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel. Johnson interviewed with the Raiders on Friday — and one can question if he even would have given the Raiders the courtesy without Brady’s involvement.

The Tom Brady factor in Las Vegas has given the Raiders an edge in attracting candidates they typically wouldn’t land. His influence is a key draw, which is why coaches like Ben Johnson agreed to meet with them.

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 11, 2025

As far as Vrabel, everyone with WiFi service assumed and reported that he was Brady’s guy and would be in the mix for the Raiders job. But Vrabel wasn’t on the Raiders’ interview list last week. One reason may surprise you. Davis apparently is not interested in another go-round with “The Patriots Way” after the failure of Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler two years ago, according to league sources.

It was announced early Sunday that Vrabel will be the next New England Patriots coach after interviewing with them and the New York Jets last week.

The Raiders currently have six known head-coaching candidates — Johnson and Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, former Jets head coach Robert Saleh and former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.

Johnson, Glenn and Spagnuolo had virtual interviews with the Raiders on Friday. Spagnuolo, 65, had three interviews for head-coaching jobs on Friday after not having one for four years. Davis, Brady and several partners sat in on the Zoom interviews, according to league sources.

Carroll is slated to have an in-person interview with the Raiders on Monday. The former Seahawks coach, who by the start of next season would be the oldest head coach in NFL history, also interviewed with the Chicago Bears last week. He would give the Raiders a charismatic, experienced face of the franchise if Brady wishes to remain in the shadows alongside Davis.

Pete Carroll would be an experienced — and charismatic — option for the Raiders. (Jane Gershovich / Getty Images)

Saleh is expected to have an in-person interview with the Raiders on Thursday, and it’s unknown when Monken will interview with the Raiders.

There’s been some buzz about University of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, but the Raiders have “zero interest” in hiring him, according to a league source. Agents using the stubbornly quiet Raiders for leverage goes as far back as the franchise’s losing.

It’s also been quiet on the Brian Flores front, even though the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator is coming off a great season and has ties to Brady from New England.

General manager

The Raiders have yet to request GM interviews with executives on other teams or schedule interviews with unemployed executives, but there’s no shortage of GM candidates out there. One of the primary reasons the Raiders fired Telesco was to ensure that their next GM is on the same page with their next head coach, so a package deal could materialize.

For both Glenn and Johnson, Washington Commanders assistant GM Lance Newmark makes sense. Before getting hired by the Commanders in 2024, he spent 26 seasons with the Lions and knows both coordinators well. Relationships aside, the fact that he had a hand in both the Lions’ and Commanders’ transformations from bottom dwellers into contenders is impressive.

Lions assistant GM Ray Agnew is another option who would align with either Johnson or Glenn. He’s been in his current role since 2021 and, before that, helped build the Los Angeles Rams into a contender as their director of pro personnel from 2017 to 2020. A sleeper could be Lions director of scouting Dwayne Joseph, who was the Raiders’ director of pro scouting from 2019 to 2024 before taking his current role with Detroit.

Whether the Raiders hire Spagnuolo as head coach or not, Chiefs assistant GM Mike Borgonzi would be a strong GM candidate. Borgonzi has spent all 16 of his seasons as an NFL executive with the Chiefs, which means he’s played a hand in building rosters that have made 11 playoff appearances and won three Super Bowls. He’s interviewed for both the Jets’ and Titans’ openings, and the Raiders would be wise to get in the mix before he’s off the board.

And whether the Raiders hire Monken or not — Monken was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator from 2016 to 2018 — they should bring in Buccaneers assistant GM John Spytek. Spytek was a part of the Tampa Bay contingent that brought in Brady, among others, to help win Super Bowl LV. He played college football with Brady at Michigan, so they go way back. In the post-Brady era with the Buccaneers, Spytek helped Tampa Bay identify Baker Mayfield and put together a roster that made the playoffs for the fifth straight season in 2024. The Raiders interviewed Spytek in 2022 and should interview him again.

If the Raiders were to roll with Carroll, then Seahawks assistant GM Nolan Teasley could be an option. He’s been with the Seahawks for 12 years, so he overlapped with Carroll.

There are still some questions about how far Brady’s reach will extend within the organization when it comes to personnel matters. The Raiders have had some GM candidates express concern about what his level of influence in building the roster will be, according to league sources.

Timeline

The Raiders can’t conduct in-person interviews with head-coaching candidates from playoff teams until the day after the divisional round ends, which is Jan. 20, and that’s only if their team is eliminated. For head-coaching candidates on teams that advance to the conference championships, in-person interviews can’t be conducted until the bye week between the conference championships and the Super Bowl.

Per NFL rules, no contract signing, contract announcement or contract agreement is permitted until after the end of the employing team’s season.

Those rules don’t apply to GM candidates. Before making a head coach or GM hire, however, the Raiders are still required to conduct at least two in-person interviews with diverse candidates for each position due to the Rooney Rule.

The Raiders could hire Carroll, Saleh or any other head-coaching candidate who’s currently unemployed as early as next week, but that feels unlikely. The most probable outcome is that the Raiders don’t have their next GM and head coach in place until closer to the end of January.

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(Top photo: Brace Hemmelgarn / Getty Images)