Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis is on the hunt for a new head coach and general manager after firing Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler this season, and he’s keeping the GM search in the AFC West right now, interviewing Denver Broncos executive Kelly Kleine Van Calligan for the job.
“The #Raiders interviewed #Broncos executive Kelly Kleine Van Calligan for their GM job, per source,” NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero reported on Thursday.
Van Calligan has been the Broncos’ executive director of football operations/special advisor to the general manager for three years now, working closely with Denver GM George Paton. Prior to that, she worked for the Minnesota Vikings for nine years in various player personnel and scouting roles.
Mark Davis and the Raiders could be trailblazers
Hiring Kelly Kleine Van Calligan as the next Raiders general manager would be a fitting move by Mark Davis and the franchise, very much in keeping with the Raiders tradition started by his dad, Al Davis.
Al Davis was famous for giving chances to anyone he deemed qualified regardless of race, creed, or color. He hired the first Hispanic head coach in Tom Flores, the first Black head coach in Art Shell, and was the first to draft a Black quarterback in the first round when he picked Tennessee State’s Eldridge Dickey (although Dickey did switch to wide receiver in training camp).
If she gets the job, Van Calligan would become the first true, full-time female general manager in NFL history.
Susan Tose Spencer, whose father owned the Philadelphia Eagles in the early 1980s, was GM of the team for two years while also serving as vice president and general counsel, but head coach Marion Campbell handled the football operations during that time.
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