- The Las Vegas Raiders have announced the dismissal of general manager Mike Mayock.
- Mayock served as GM for three seasons and the Raiders compiled a 25-24 record in his tenure.
- The Raiders have already initiated the process of finding a replacement for Mayock.
Semi-surprising news out of Las Vegas today as the Raiders have announced the firing of general manager Mike Mayock. On one hand, the move can be seen as inevitable since Mayock was the ‘hand picked’ choice of former head coach Jon Gruden. On the other hand, Mayock successfully led the team through three tough seasons which included the relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Gruden resigned as head coach in October but the team rallied behind interim Rich Bisaccia. The Raiders would go on to finish the season 10-7 and reach the playoffs for only the second time since 2002. While the team does have some talent to work with, ultimately Mayock’s association with Gruden led to his dismissal.
The Raiders didn’t give Mayock much of a send off announcing his dismissal via this graphic statement posted to the team’s Twitter account:
The statement itself was downright terse:
“We have relieved Mike Mayock of his duties as General Manager of the Las Vegas Raiders. We thank Mike for his contributions over the last three years in helping to form the foundation for the franchise to build upon in its future.”
With the trend toward coaches and GMs being fired with effusive statements of how wonderful they are, the Raiders’ succinct statement is something of a throwback. As of this writing, the announcement of Mayock’s firing has yet to make it to the team’s official website which is at least slightly odd. Maybe everybody involved will be making statements tomorrow but the Raiders wanted to drop the news today.
The Raiders announced Mayock’s hiring on December 31, 2018 and his background made it somewhat unique. Mayock had been a commentator for the NFL Network for over 15 years and otherwise had no experience that would have prepared him for the job. At the time of his hiring, he addressed his background:
“I think the one way to answer it from my perspective is for the last 15 years, I’ve tried to be the GM for all 32 teams,” Mayock said. “And because of that, from a scheme perspective, I think I’m sound. I think I’m used to evaluating all kinds of different players at all kinds of different positions for every team in the league. What I don’t have — and I was pretty honest with Mark and Jon when we talked about this position — is the everyday backup as far as the mechanics of running a team.”
“But I’ve been in all 32 buildings for the last 15 years. I know what it looks like. I know what it smells like. I just need a little help with the mechanics.”
Mayock had his ups and downs as general manager but he never looked to be overwhelmed in the role. His NFL draft performance was enigmatic, as the Las Vegas Review Journal notes in a lengthy review of Mayock’s personnel decisions with the Raiders. The Raiders are also actively searching for a new head coach and the dismissal of Mayock likely will make that timeline somewhat slower. Current University of Michigan head coach Jon Harbaugh has been linked to the Raiders’ job along with openings in Houston and Chicago. The team has requested an interview with New England inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo. Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia is also under consideration but the dismissal of Mayock makes his hiring considerably more of a longshot.
With Monday being the MLK Holiday, there’s reason to expect that Tuesday will produce some statements from team owner Mark Davis and possibly Mayock himself. The team may also provide more clarity on their game plan for finding Mayock’s replacement.
