The Las Vegas Raiders are taking a huge gamble by making sweeping changes.
On Tuesday, a day after Antonio Pierce met with reporters and said he anticipated and looked forward to running it back as Raiders coach in 2025, he was given his pink slip. Just two days later, on Thursday, came another bombshell: The Raiders fired general manager Tom Telesco.
“We appreciate his efforts in helping build a foundation for the future. We wish Tom and his family all the best,” the team said in a statement.
That is a clean sweep for the Raiders at the top, which might assist them in landing a head coach who either wants control over personnel or can come in with a general manager he has worked alongside and feels comfortable with.
Telesco was not without a job for long. The Raiders hired him last January, less than six weeks after he was fired, along with coach Brandon Staley, by the Los Angeles Chargers following a 63-21 loss ironically to Las Vegas.
There has been a lot of overhaul and very little stability with Mark Davis’ Raiders since they moved to Vegas in 2020. Whoever coaches the Raiders next season will be the fifth coach in five seasons, including interims. This past year, the Raiders went a disappointing 4-13 and the biggest reason why was the lack of a franchise quarterback, leading to another massive change in the team’s direction.
Embed from Getty ImagesFiring Telesco was not a shock, despite the Raiders having a good draft in 2024, but the timing left you rolling your eyes. Telesco, hired in part for his success in drafting, particularly in the early rounds, nailed the Raiders’ top three picks last spring. When Telesco made it through the first few days of the week, it appeared that he would be safe for another season. But Davis, after taking a couple more days to mull over things, got rid of his GM too. Telesco, 52, lasted just one season. Pierce was fired after just one full season as the team’s permanent coach, after serving as the interim head coach to finish the 2023 campaign. This organization seems to be in chaos.
Minority owner Tom Brady’s role in the decisions is an interesting layer. Brady has a small stake in the Raiders and reports said he would be a big part of the interview process for the team’s next head coach. Brady is friends with and a former Patriots teammate of Mike Vrabel, who has been a popular candidate this cycle and perhaps wants an alignment with whoever is his new team’s general manager. That was a reported issue with him and the Tennessee Titans, and a reason he was fired as their head coach after the 2023 season. Starting over at general manager might make the opening more attractive to some candidates who would demand either personnel power themselves or to be in concert with a general manager they are familiar with.
Either way, the Raiders are starting over. Again. The revolving door at the team’s most important positions has not stopped yet.
