GM John Spytek Offers Genuine Hope at the Franchise’s Darkest Hour

HENDERSON, Nev.—Just hours after ending a truly wasted season that saw another campaign with owner Mark David dumping millions of dollars to pay people not to coach his team, the Las Vegas Raiders are in the midst of a significant overhaul.

They fired Pete Carroll this morning and are officially on the clock with the team's No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, and are searching for a new coach.

Las Vegas Raiders GM John Spytek | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

GM John Spytek Found His Voice

Last year, during the offseason, I asked Spytek if he would continue a precedent established by former GM Tom Telesco of meeting, off the record, each Thursday with the beat writers. It was an incredibly valuable time that benefited both the team and the beat writers.

Spytek was honest that he wouldn’t meet with us that much, but that he would. Evidently, that meant not rarely, since the last time he spoke to us collectively was August 27, 20225.

At that press conference, Spytek described his role as a GM, "Being on the same page with Pete [Carroll] and making sure it's what's best for the Raiders. Pete and I have had, since the start, a great communication between us. We've got great staffs that support us and feel empowered to tell us what they think. And so any move that we make, you can bet that Pete and I have talked a lot about it, which means our staffs have talked a lot about it too, and we've done it because we feel like it's in the best for the Raiders."

What’s Next?

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Who’s The Boss

The Last two coaches the Raiders have had failed, and a critical, though not the only, reason was that they did not have the authority to establish their own staffs. Both Antonio Pierce and Pete Carroll had members of their staff whom they didn’t pick.

Las Vegas Raiders' Antonio Pierce, and Mark Davis | Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated

I asked Spytek today whether he planned to allow his next coach to have full autonomy to pick his own staff.

"I want to turn that over to the coach. I mean, we're going to have a lot of great conversations about who, why, where. There's going to be a lot of great football conversations. But my belief has always been you give a lot of the responsibility to the head coach to hire the staff that he wants to hire. It's who reports to him and who he works with every day."

Las Vegas Raiders GM John Spytek, and minority owner Tom Brady | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Tom Brady In the Building?

The Raiders released a statement today about the franchise. “ Moving forward, General Manager John Spytek will lead all football operations in close collaboration with Tom Brady, including the search for the club's next head coach. Together, they will guide football decisions with a shared focus on leadership, culture, and alignment with the organization's long-term vision and goals. - Mark Davis”

Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

There have been complaints inside the building about Tom Brady being absent from the team while still having they dominant voice.

I asked Spytek whether, moving forward, he expected Tom Brady to be in the building on a more regular basis.

"I have a great relationship with Tom [Brady]. We're in constant communication daily, and whether he's in the building or not, our conversations are very much similar. So, I always love seeing him, he's somebody I've learned a lot from every time I've had a chance to sit in a room with him, but we've had a lot of great phone conversations as well."

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