He has 11 season experience as GM
UPDATED:
It’s official.
Tom Telesco has been named General Manager of the Las Vegas Raiders ☠️
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 24, 2024
PREVIOUSLY
In a bit of a surprise, the Las Vegas Raiders have hired Tom Telesco as general manager.
An AFC West jump: Raiders are working to hire former Chargers’ general manager Tom Telesco as their new general manager, per league sources. pic.twitter.com/tRrl0DSwsn
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 23, 2024
He was the general manager of the Los Angeles Chargers for 11 seasons, starting in 2013. The Chargers had six winnings seasons and five losing seasons under him. Telesco’s last act as the general manager of the Los Angeles Chargers was was seeing the team get blasted 63-21 by the Raiders in December. Telesco, along with Chargers’ head coach Brandon Staley, were fired the next morning.
Clearly, Telesco’s experience played a big role in his getting hired in Las Vegas. The other two finalists, Raiders’ interim general manager Champ Kelly and Indianapolis Colts assistant general manager Ed Dobbs, have no full-time experience in the role. Raiders’ owner Mark Davis told The Athletic last month he was a bit nervous about teaming a rookie head coach and GM.
The Raiders’, of course, promoted interim head coach Antonio Pierce to the full-time role last week. It will be Pierce’s first full season as an NFL coach and just his third season in the league as a coach.
So, Telesco can help guide him.
Still, the expectation all along has been that Pierce and Kelly woukd be the 2024 tandem. The Raiders went 5-4 after Pierce and Kelly replaced the fired Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler, respectively.
In addition to Telesco, Dobbs and Kelly, the Raiders did reportedly interview four other candidates. They were: Trey Brown of Cincinnati, Terrance Gray of Buffalo and Kelly Kleine Van Calligan of Denver.
Telesco is the Raiders’ fourth general manager after Mark Davis took over for his late father Al Davis in 2011. He follows Reggie McKenzie, Mike Mayock and Ziegler as the Raiders’ top football decision maker.
Telesco was known as a strong drafter, and he built a good roster, but the Chargers could never get it all together under Telesco and he struggled with coaching hires. But Pierce is already here so perhaps that’s a good sign.
Telesco’s big decision this offseason will be deciding on who will be the team’s quarterback. The future starts now.
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