A week or so has passed since the Oakland Raiders announced former NFL Draft analyst Mike Mayock as their general manager. Recently, Mayock was asked by ESPN reporters about his relationship with his head coach Jon Gruden:
“I've known Jon for 20 years, I know his brother Jay. I grew up as the son of a coach just like he did. The cool thing is when I took the Raiders job, I had like 400 text messages – most of them football guys. Coaches, scouts, general managers… (etc.) All of them commented on the fit between Jon and I. Two football guys who do nothing but grind tape. I'm excited.”
He was also asked about how much pull he has in the front office:
“It's an easy one. In all honesty, Jon has the final say if it ever comes to that. I have no problem with that… At the end of the day… we won't have any issues.”
The 60-year-old TV personality replaces former Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie, who was fired by the team last month after some questionable decisions. That includes trading away Khalil Mack, their All-Pro outside linebacker, and their best wide receiver in Amari Cooper. During McKenzie's tenure as GM, Oakland went 39-70.
It seemed that he may have lost decision-making abilities once they signed head coach Jon Gruden to a ten-year contract last season. It will be interesting to see how he and Mayock mesh. Gruden's contract and season with the Raiders were very controversial. The team went 4-12 on the year and were a huge disappointment. The pair have a ton of work to do to bring this team back into contention.
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