The Las Vegas Raiders season came to an end on Sunday in a 26-19 loss to the Bengals in Cincinnati that featured plenty of officiating controversy, but also a Raiders team unable to get out of its own way at times — including on the final drive that came up just short of tying the game.
With the season ending, the Raiders could begin working on the offseason task of finding a new head coach after interim Rich Bisaccia took the helm midseason after Jon Gruden resigned in disgrace over a number of horrific leaked emails from the past between he and former Washington executive Bruce Allen. On Monday, word emerged from Adam Schefter that not only would the head coaching search begin, but the Raiders had also put in a request to interview a GM candidate, despite the presence of Mike Mayock.
Raiders still have HC Rich Bisaccia and GM Mike Mayock in place, but it hasn’t stopped Las Vegas from looking.
Raiders requested permission to interview Patriots ILB coach Jerod Mayo for HC and Patriots director of player personnel Dave Ziegler for their GM job, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 17, 2022
That led to some raised eyebrows, and not long after that report emerged, word broke that Mayock was indeed being fired after three seasons in Vegas.
#Raiders GM Mike Mayock was informed that he won’t be retained, source said. Jon Gruden resigned in October, Mayock now out in January.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 17, 2022
Mike Mayock is out as the Raiders’ general manager, per the team.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 17, 2022
Mayock’s tenure as GM featured some wild draft picks, as the former NFL Network analyst very clearly was using his own draft board and not a consensus one, and plenty of controversies, from the Antonio Brown debacle to this season’s various off-field incidents involving players, most notably Henry Ruggs III committing DUI manslaughter and getting cut. Between all of that, his big swings in the draft not particularly panning out, and the Gruden resignation, it’s not a surprise that the Raiders are simply looking for a fresh start throughout their organizational structure.
Vegas joins Chicago, Minnesota, and the New York Giants as teams looking to fill both a GM and head coaching vacancy this offseason, with the Raiders as the lone playoff team doing so.