Mike Mayock on Being Fired by Las Vegas Raiders

Former Las Vegas Raiders general manager Mike Mayor was fired by the club in 2022 despite his team earning its first playoff berth since the the 2016 season.

One of the more surprising moves by the Las Vegas Raiders in recent memory was the decision to move on from former general manager Mike Mayock and former interim head coach Rich Bisaccia.

Mayock and Bisaccia had the Raiders looking promising by the end of their 2021 season, but owner Mark Davis decided it was best to bring in a new regime.

"You come off something where you think -- you inherit a four-win team and three years later, you win 10," Mayock said when he recently joined the "3 and Out with John Middlekauff" podcast. "You're on the 9-yard line against the Super Bowl Cincinnati Bengals with a chance to tie the game with four downs in 35 seconds. We didn't get it done.

"So, I kind of came off that season thinking, 'OK, it was a crazy year.' ... Jon Gruden got fired. Henry Ruggs was in that awful accident that killed a woman. We had a lot of bad things happen, and Rich Bisaccia was unbelievable, and to this day, I can't believe he's not a head coach in the NFL.

"And I think Rich and I saw things the same way, and I think we saw that there could have been a future there, building on that playoff team. So, getting fired -- I kind of, I was like, 'Wow.' I understand there can be individual criticism on some of the draft picks, and I certainly understand why. Not everybody knows why guys got picked when they got picked.

"But ... yeah, everybody knows who the NFL GM is. Lot of people knew me from the NFL Network. And there was a lot of public criticism out there, which I think I'm fine with because since the first day I did a mock draft at the NFL Network 100 years ago, people are going to take shots at you.

"And I don't really care, it's just when your kids or your loved ones are kind of like, 'Who is this guy and why does he hate you?' And you just got to go, 'It's all right, we're good.'"

After the Raiders clinched their first playoff berth under Mayock and Bisaccia, it was reasonable to assume their jobs were secure.

"We were 6-7 at one point, and I'm sure Mark Davis was sitting there thinking, 'I'm going to move on.' And we were able to win the last four, we were the No. 5 seed in the AFC, and we gave the Raiders their second playoff team in 21 years. So, I think there was some optimism between Rich and I and the coaching staff and the scouting staff that we were going to build something."

You can watch the entire podcast episode here.

The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently have the No. 13 overall pick.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr and never miss another breaking news story again. Sign up RIGHT HERE for our 100% FREE newsletter that comes thrice a week and delivers all our best stories.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.