The Las Vegas Raiders took some time before making some major decisions.
On Tuesday, a day after Antonio Pierce met with the media and said he anticipated being back as Raiders coach, he was fired. Then on Thursday came more big news: The Raiders fired general manager Tom Telesco.
That’s a clean sweep for the Raiders at the top, which might help them land a head coach who either wants personnel power or can come in with a general manager he has worked with before.
There has been a lot of upheaval with Mark Davis’ Raiders in recent years. Whoever coaches the Raiders in 2025 will be the fifth coach in five seasons, counting interims. This past season the Raiders went 4-13, prompting yet another massive 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 seemed he would survive for another season. But Davis, after taking a couple more days to decide, got rid of his GM too. Telesco 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 season.
Tom Brady’s role in the decisions is an interesting side note. Brady is a limited owner 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 and former Patriots teammates with 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 Titans, and a reason he was fired as their coach after the 2023 season. Starting over at general manager might make the opening more attractive to some candidates who would like either personnel power themselves or to work with a general manager they’re comfortable with.
Either way, the Raiders are starting over. Again. The revolving door at the team’s most important positions hasn’t stopped yet.
