It took a while for the Las Vegas Raiders to make some important decisions.
On Tuesday, a day after Antonio Pierce met with the media and said he expected to be back as Raiders coach, he was fired. Then more big news came Thursday: the Raiders fired general manager Tom Telesco.
That’s a clean slate for the Raiders at the top, which could help them land a head coach who either wants personnel power or can come in with a general manager he’s worked with before.
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding Mark Davis’ Raiders in recent years. Whoever coaches the Raiders in 2025 will be the fifth coach in five seasons, including interims. Last season the Raiders went 4-13, marking another major change in the team’s direction.
Firing Telesco wasn’t a huge surprise, despite the Raiders having a pretty good draft in 2024, but the timing was odd. When Telesco survived the first few days of the week, it looked like he would survive another season. But Davis, after taking a few more days to decide, also got rid of his GM. Telesco lasted only one season. Pierce was fired as the team’s permanent coach after just one full season, having served as interim head coach to complete the 2023 season.
Tom Brady’s role in the decisions is an interesting side note. Brady is a limited owner of the Raiders and reports have him being a big part of the interview process for the team’s next head coach. Brady is friends and former Patriots teammate with Mike Vrabel, who has been a hot candidate this cycle and may want to align with whoever is his new team’s general manager. That was a reported issue with him and the Titans, and the reason he was fired as coach after the 2023 season. Starting over at general manager may make the position more attractive to some candidates who want to have staffing power themselves or work with a general manager they feel comfortable with.
Either way, the Raiders start over. Again. The revolving door in the team’s most important positions has not stopped yet.
