What will his role be?
It has been reported, as expected, Las Vegas Raiders general manager Tom Telesco, will be retained despite the team firing coach Antonio Pierce.
Here are three keys to Telesco moving forward?
Will he lead the search?
Telesco will be the first Raiders’ general manager to lead a coaching search since Reggie McKenzie helped hire Jack Del Rio in 2015. But I was told back then, Del Rio was more of owner Mark Davis’ guy than McKenzie. Will Telesco play a big role in this hire? It’s been reported minority owner Tom Brady will be part of the coaching search. It will be interesting if Brady will have a greater say than Telesco. Frankly, he shouldn’t. Brady has never been part of this process. Telesco has. He didn’t get a say in hiring Pierce, but he should play a major role in hiring his replacement
Will he have more power than the new coach?
If the new coach doesn’t report to Telesco, this create friction from the start and it could eventually lead to another big change in the future.
He has to be aggressive in 2025:
Telesco wasn’t overly aggressive in his first year as the Raiders’ GM. He landed a big free-agent, defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, but didn’t do much else. The team needs to fill many holes, starting with quarterback. Telesco has to play a key role in getting the Raiders right in the post-Pierce era.