Raiders GM Tom Telesco hoping balanced approach yields success, helps him 'finish the job' (2024)

When he took over as the Las Vegas Raiders’ interim head coach last season, Antonio Pierce focused on the present.

The 45-year-old, Super Bowl-winning linebacker lacked coaching experience — it was just his second season as an NFL assistant — but he couldn’t do anything about that.

The only thing that would help him was locking in on the moment at hand. And with his fiery, gregarious and outspoken nature, he galvanized the Raiders and their fans across nine games, going 5-4.

Pierce was hired as the Raiders’ full-time head coach in January, but his mindset hasn’t changed. He desperately wants to win right away, and that has required an aggressive approach.

“Initially, I’m always going to be like, ‘I want to get it done now,’” Pierce said. “I’ve always said when you’re in this position, you’re racing time.”

One motto: Get better pic.twitter.com/6JHJvqomp9

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) April 15, 2024

Tom Telesco’s model, on the other hand, is rooted in patience. The Raiders’ 51-year-old general manager possesses a quiet, measured demeanor, and that’s reflected in how he goes about his job.

Telesco and Pierce are as different as they come, and they didn’t know each other before they were hired. That’s not a requirement for a GM and head coach to work well together, but cultivating a symbiotic relationship takes time. Since joining forces in January, they’ve started to find common ground.

“He’s got a great vision of what he wants in the football team and hasn’t deviated from that,” Telesco said of Pierce. “It really helps us identify exactly who’s going to fit as a Raider.”

Pierce isn’t going to change who he is, but he’s come around on taking a more balanced approach to building the Raiders’ roster.

“You want to win now,” Pierce said. “But you also understand it’s a process.”

On the surface, it was a curious decision when the Raiders hired Telesco to work with Pierce. After all, it was the Raiders’ 63-21 beatdown of the Los Angeles Chargers last season that got Telesco fired. The Chargers had a mediocre 84-95 record in Telesco’s 11-year tenure as GM, made the playoffs just three times and won only two postseason games.

But for owner Mark Davis, hiring Telesco was a bet on experience. Davis had hired a first-time GM and head coach in 2012 when he paired Reggie McKenzie with Dennis Allen. When that didn’t work out — Allen was fired four games into his third season — it left a lasting impression.

Davis felt Telesco’s accumulated knowledge would complement Pierce’s attitude and presence and create a true partnership between the two. As they worked through free agency and the NFL Draft, Telesco and Pierce have started to build that rapport.

“He’s very thought out,” Pierce said when asked recently about Telesco. “He’s done it for a long time. He’s been successful with building rosters. I think that’s why we mesh well because we’ve got a young bull like AP that’s like, ‘I want to go out there and get it now,’ and he’s like, ‘There’s another way to do it, and we don’t have to do it at such an expensive cost.’”

“He just has a special ability to relate to people and lead people.”

GM Tom Telesco shares just how special Antonio Pierce is to the @Raiders organization. 👏 pic.twitter.com/BJTk6hPjCH

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) May 9, 2024

The type of collaboration is new for the Raiders. From 2018 to 2021, former head coach Jon Gruden had control over all roster decisions. Former GM Dave Ziegler was given roster control when he was hired in 2022, but there were situations when former head coach Josh McDaniels overruled him.

“The general manager had the final authority on all of it,” Davis told The Athletic last year. “Whether he accepted that authority or not is a different story, but it was very clear when they were hired where the buck stopped.”

There’s no ambiguity this time around as Telesco has final say over the roster. Still, he believes the Raiders should be built in Pierce’s image.

“It feels more like not so much, ‘Follow me,’ but, ‘Join me,’” Telesco said. “I think your football team takes on the identity of your head coach, and that’s what we’re going to have here. That’s what we’re going to build around.”

When Telesco walked past Bill Polian at the Indianapolis Colts’ facility in 2006, he was pulled into a conversation about the draft. Telesco had just become the team’s director of player personnel that year, and he was headed into his first meeting to discuss prospects with scouts.

Telesco was a rising executive, but Polian was already well on his way to becoming an NFL Hall of Famer. The Colts general manager and president was in his 19th season as an NFL GM, had reached three Super Bowls and was a five-time NFL executive of the year.

So, while Telesco was running the meeting, it was only natural that Polian wanted to give his input. When they crossed paths, Polian told Telesco he wanted to join in when they discussed quarterbacks. Rather than welcome Polian’s expertise, however, Telesco pushed back.

“He said — not sheepishly — but in his low-key fashion, ‘I really wish you wouldn’t,’” Polian said recently. “I said, ‘Why?’ I was a bit shocked, you know? He said, ‘Because they know you go out and scout. And if you start taking notes or you evidence any interest, it’s going to sway what they think.’ It’s command influence.”

“Command influence” is a military term that refers to the practice of a superior wrongfully using his or her authority to influence outcomes. Polian had learned about it during his time at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and explained it to his personnel staffers as something to avoid. He wanted them to think independently.

Telesco grew up 20 miles south of Buffalo in Hamburg, N.Y., and had known Polian since he was the Bills’ GM from 1986 to 1992. He played youth basketball and high school and college football alongside Polian’s son, Chris, in the ‘80s and ‘90s. And when the elder Polian became the Carolina Panthers’ GM in 1995, he hired Telesco as a scouting assistant.

Later, in that moment with the Colts, Telesco was simply putting the lessons he’d learned from Polian into practice.

“It’s like two middle infielders trying to make a double play,” Polian said. “A lot of the stuff you do is just unconscious because you’ve worked together for so long and you understand each other, so it made the operation much more efficient.”

The Colts went on to win Super Bowl XLI that season. Across six more years in Indianapolis, Telesco remained true to the team-oriented approach Polian instilled.

“He was on a fast track to a high executive position in the NFL,” Polian said. “That was pretty obvious.”

The Colts’ peak run of success under Polian came from 2002 to 2008. They made the playoffs every year and never won fewer than 10 games.

Polian, head coach Tony Dungy and assistant GM Dom Anile were the figureheads of the front office. Together, they built a roster led by Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Those triumphs, though, were also the result of contributions from three future GMs on the personnel staff: Chris Polian, Andrew Berry and Telesco.

As Telesco moved up the ranks, he kept that in mind. He was demanding but remained open to the perspectives of others.

“He’s not out in front looking for credit,” said Chris Polian, who succeeded his father as the Colts’ GM in 2009. “He’s one of those guys that is putting the team first.”

Bill Polian taught Telesco to maintain a constant attention to detail. He wasn’t a micromanager and trusted those around him, but that trait was non-negotiable.

“It was just finding those little things that are the difference between being good and great,” Colts assistant director of college scouting Jamie Moore said.

In 2012, the Colts fired Bill and Chris Polian and then-head coach Jim Caldwell and released Manning. It was a major period of transition for the franchise, but Telesco was retained as vice president of football operations.

“You have somebody steering the ship with a calm perspective (who) is not going to do things off the whim of emotion,” said Chris Polian, now a special advisor with the Cleveland Browns under Berry.

After helping the Colts make a playoff run in 2012, Telesco landed the Chargers’ GM job in 2013. The results that followed were mixed, but he stayed true to his philosophy.

“He’s the same guy today as he was 25 years ago,” Bill Polian said. “He’s just a lot more experienced.”

Mike McCoy didn’t really know Telesco. Telesco was part of McCoy’s interview process with the Chargers, but they didn’t have a prior relationship. When the first-time head coach and first-time GM sat down to lay out their plan for the franchise, they quickly agreed to a collaborative approach despite their lack of familiarity. Telesco had the final say over roster decisions, but he vowed to make them in the coaching staff’s image.

“He truly wanted the coaches to sit down with him and say, ‘OK, this is the type of player I want. This is what I’m looking for,’” McCoy said recently.

That extended to the personnel department and roster. Essentially, Telesco had an open-door policy for everyone in the building.

“It doesn’t necessarily always mean that they’re going to like what you tell them, but if you’re honest with them and straight with them, I think they appreciate that,” Telesco said.

When it came to constructing the roster, Telesco wanted to build primarily through the draft and use free agency and trades to address the remaining needs. That methodology helped the Chargers make the playoffs in 2013, but they failed to make the postseason over the next three seasons.

McCoy was fired in 2017. Telesco stayed on and had input in the Chargers’ decision to hire Anthony Lynn as the new coach.

“Tom’s very thorough,” Lynn said recently. “He’s an open book. He’s an honest man. You never have to guess where you stand with Tom. And I like that about people. He speaks his mind and he’s very honest. What you see is what you get.”

The Chargers broke through with a 12-4 season and playoff berth in 2018 but, once again, the success would be short-lived. They won just 12 games combined in the next two seasons, and Lynn was fired. While things didn’t work out, he had no regrets about how the player personnel department operated under Telesco.

“It was by committee,” Lynn said. “We never brought a player in the building that I didn’t bless. … I never felt like Tom Telesco didn’t have my back.”

Telesco kept his job, which gave him the rare opportunity to work with a third head coach. The Chargers landed on Brandon Staley, and they seemed to be headed in the right direction when they made the playoffs in 2022. Those good vibes quickly dissipated when they blew a 27-point lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a painful first-round collapse.

That made 2023 a do-or-die season for the Chargers. But after a 5-9 start, punctuated by that embarrassing loss to the Raiders, Telesco and Staley were fired.

The Chargers never became a consistent winner in Telesco’s tenure, but the Raiders immediately presented him with another opportunity to prove himself. Davis expects Telesco to turn the Raiders into contenders, even after their 8-9 finish last season.

“It was maybe a little unfinished business,” said JoJo Wooden, the former Chargers director of player personnel who joined Telesco with the Raiders as the senior director of player personnel this offseason. “It’s just another chance to do what we did in L.A., but finish the job.”

Going into his 12th year as a GM, Telesco has demonstrated a best-player-available mentality when it comes to the draft.

The Raiders drafted tight end Michael Mayer in the second round last year, but that didn’t stop Telesco from selecting tight end Brock Bowers with the 13th pick in the first round. And while there were intriguing cornerbacks and offensive tackles available in the second round, Telesco opted for guard Jackson Powers-Johnson with pick No. 44. It showed that Telesco is aiming to improve the overall talent of the roster, not just fill holes on a depth chart.

“You try to balance it out,” Telesco said. “Your needs change quickly and unpredictably. It’s hard to go into the draft just thinking, ‘This is how we’re going to line up on opening day.’ You’ve got to take a little bit more of a long-range approach to it.”

Draft. Room. Views.#RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/GHgCBOFc7X

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) April 26, 2024

During his time with the Chargers, Telesco was big on positional value — seven of his 12 first-round picks were quarterbacks, receivers, offensive tackles or edge rushers — and many panned out. He was also committed to sticking and picking. He never traded down in any round and rarely traded up.

That may be frustrating for Raiders fans who were looking for a long-term answer at right tackle, cornerback and quarterback — journeyman Gardner Minshew and former Day 3 pick Aidan O’Connell are set to battle it out for the starting job this year — but the Raiders believe it’ll come together in the long run.

With the personnel staff, there’s been an outside perception that there could be a divide between Telesco and the holdovers from the previous regime. Assistant GM Champ Kelly was promoted to interim GM when Pierce became interim head coach last season and was a finalist for the GM job this offseason, but the Raiders ultimately decided on Telesco. Kelly was understandably disappointed he didn’t get the job, but that hasn’t caused any friction inside the building.

“There was a lot of cohesion,” Kelly said earlier this month. “(Telesco) didn’t come in and say, ‘We’re just doing everything my way. It’s my way or the highway.’ He came in and he listened to our scouts and our evaluations.”

Thus far, bringing on Wooden and drawing a clearer delineation between the college and pro scouting departments are the only significant changes Telesco has made to the personnel staff. Director of pro personnel Dwayne Joseph left shortly after the draft for a role with the Detroit Lions, but the sense is Telesco will keep most of his staff in place.

“We’ve got some really smart and experienced guys here,” Telesco said. “I feel good about the group.”

There’s no shortage of positive vibes inside Raiders headquarters these days, but that doesn’t guarantee it’ll translate into more wins on the field. It’s only Year 1 for Telesco and Pierce, but they recognize the expectation is for them to produce right away.

“I don’t see this as trying to tear everything down and start from scratch,” Telesco said. “We want to be able to compete and win along the way.”

(Top photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)