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

After firing head coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco within two days of each other last week, Davis will hire his fifth GM and sixth head coach since taking over as majority owner in 2011. It’s no coincidence that the Raiders only had two winning seasons during that time frame.

While Davis is largely unapologetic when it comes to operational decisions in football, he gets no blame for doing a terrible job hiring the people to make them happen Are they produce.

Davis hasn’t shied away from taking on that blame, and now he’s dramatically revamping his approach. This started with a change in ownership structure. Last year, Davis sold 25.5 percent of the franchise. Egon Durban, co-CEO and Endeavor chairman of Silver Lake, and Michael Meldman, founder and chairman of Discovery Land Company, each acquired the largest stake, 7.5 percent each, but their influence is on the business side. The same goes for Tom Wagner, co-founder of Knighthead Capital Management, who acquired 5 percent.

When it comes to Brady, the legendary quarterback who also bought 5 percent, and Hall of Fame defensive end Richard Seymour, who bought 0.5 percent, the focus is on football. Brady in particular has already made a huge impact.

Brady reached out to North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick. Although Belichick shared that he had no plans to leave his current position — and the call may have just been to seek 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 the best path for Las Vegas was to start with a clean slate.

Davis has not spoken to the media since the firings, and when he does, he will likely downplay the role of Brady, who appears to want to continue his broadcasting career at Fox. He would have to convince the NFL that he is only serving in an advisory role with the Raiders and not running the team, which multiple league sources believe he is doing.

Davis has also changed his process when approaching candidates for both the GM and head coaching positions, hiring recruiting firm Korn Ferry to help put together a list of potential candidates.

Here’s what else we’re hearing about the status of the Raiders’ ongoing head coach and GM search.

Head coach

The two hottest candidates in the entire league are Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel. Johnson did an interview with the Raiders on Friday – and one can’t help but wonder if he would have even extended the courtesy to the Raiders without Brady’s involvement.

The Tom Brady factor in Las Vegas has given the Raiders an advantage in recruiting prospects they wouldn’t normally attract. His influence is a major draw, which is why coaches like Ben Johnson agreed to meet with them.

– Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 11, 2025

As for Vrabel, everyone with WiFi assumed and reported that he was Brady’s man 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. According to league sources, Davis apparently isn’t interested in another round of “The Patriots Way” after the failures of Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler two years ago.

After an interview with them and the New York Jets last week, it was announced early Sunday that Vrabel would be the next coach of the New England Patriots.

The Raiders currently have six known head coach 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 Jets head coach Robert Saleh of the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll.

Johnson, Glenn and Spagnuolo had virtual interviews with the Raiders on Friday. The 65-year-old Spagnuolo had three interviews for the head coaching job on Friday after having none in four years. According to league sources, Davis, Brady and several partners participated in the Zoom interviews.

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

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

There’s been some buzz about University of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, but according to a league source, the Raiders have “no interest” in hiring him. The fact that agents use the stubbornly quiet Raiders as leverage goes back to the franchise’s defeats.

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

Chief Executive Officer

The Raiders have not yet requested GM interviews with other teams’ executives or scheduled interviews with unemployed executives, but there is no shortage of GM candidates. One of the main reasons the Raiders fired Telesco was to make sure their next GM was on the same page with their next head coach so a package deal could happen.

Washington Commanders assistant GM Lance Newmark makes sense for both Glenn and Johnson. Before being hired by the Commanders in 2024, he spent 26 seasons with the Lions and knows both coordinators well. Relationships aside, what’s impressive is the fact that he was involved in transforming both the Lions and Commanders from underdeveloped players to contenders.

Lions assistant GM Ray Agnew is another option that would join either Johnson or Glenn. He has been in his current position since 2021 and previously helped make the Los Angeles Rams a contender as Director of Pro Personnel from 2017 to 2020. One sleeper could be Lions scouting director Dwayne Joseph, who was the Raiders’ director of pro scouting from 2019 to 2024 before taking on his current role with Detroit.

Regardless of 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 manager with the Chiefs, meaning he helped build rosters that played 11 playoff games and won three Super Bowls. He has been interviewed for both the Jets and Titans openers, and the Raiders would be wise to get involved before he disappears from the board.

And whether or not the Raiders sign Monken — Monken was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator from 2016 to 2018 — they should sign Buccaneers assistant GM John Spytek. Spytek was part of the Tampa Bay squad that, among other things, brought in Brady to help win Super Bowl LV. He played college football with Brady at Michigan, so there is a long history between them. In the post-Brady era with the Buccaneers, Spytek helped Tampa Bay identify Baker Mayfield and put together a roster that would make the playoffs for a fifth straight season in 2024. The Raiders interviewed Spytek in 2022 and should interview him again.

If the Raiders were to work with Carroll, Seahawks assistant GM Nolan Teasley could be an option. He has been with the Seahawks for 12 years, so there was some overlap with Carroll.

There are still some questions about how far Brady’s influence will reach within the organization in personnel matters. According to league sources, some of the Raiders’ GM candidates expressed concern about the influence he will have in building the roster.

Timeline

The Raiders cannot conduct in-person interviews with head coaching candidates from playoff teams until the day after the end of the divisional round, January 20, and only if their team is eliminated. For head coaching candidates from teams advancing to the Conference Championships, in-person interviews cannot be conducted until the bye week between the Conference Championships and the Super Bowl.

According to NFL rules, a contract signing, contract announcement or contract agreement is not permitted until after the end of the contracting team’s season.

These rules do not apply to GM candidates. However, before hiring a head coach or GM, the Rooney Rule still requires the Raiders to conduct at least two in-person interviews with different candidates for each position.

The Raiders could hire Carroll, Saleh or any other head coach candidate who is currently unemployed as early as next week, but that seems unlikely. The most likely outcome is that the Raiders won’t have their next GM and head coach in place until late January.

(Top photo: Brace Hemmelgarn / Getty Images)