Mark Davis took a backseat this go-around and that’s a good thing

Las Vegas Raiders owner deferred to minority owners, search firm in this hiring cycle

Mark Davis’ silence upon the firings of both head coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco was peculiar.

Outside of statements issued by the team, the Las Vegas Raiders owner didn’t provide any rhyme or reason to the dismissals and didn’t appear in front of the media. Perhaps, we should’ve seen the axe dropping on both Pierce and Telesco coming as other owners came out and publicly backed personnel on perceived hot seats.

Davis did not.

“We just felt it was time for a change,” Davis simply said to awaiting media when the topic of Pierce and Telesco came up after the introductory press conference for Carroll and Spytek occurred last week.

What Davis did do this go-around, however, was take a backseat in this hiring cycle. And that’s a good thing. A very good thing.

As things have played out — Pete Carroll is the new head coach; John Spytek the new general manager — the radio silence from Davis signals a course change for the Silver & Black. Time will tell that’s a course correction, but Davis deferred to the panel of minority owners in: Tom Brady, Michael Meldman, Tom Wagner, and Egon Durban — all of whom bought a piece of the Raiders last year. That group tasked the firm Korn Ferry to scour candidates.

Brady, in particular, is of note as he’s engaged in steering the team in a new direction while also being part of the game broadcast team for Fox. Leading some to question how he’s able to do so.

But alas, here we are.

Brady is part of the committee and it’s rumored he’ll have a say in the Raiders quarterback position as Spytek, Carroll, and the new-look Silver & Black embark on the offseason.

Davis leaning on Brady and the rest of the new minority owners shouldn’t be a surprise. The owner has often admitted he doesn’t know everything and prefers to surround himself with folk who have sound football (on-field and operations) minds.

“I’ve been around some great, great football people in my lifetime. You talk about my (late) father (Al Davis). You talk about John Madden. You talk about Tom Flores. You talk about Ron Wolf,” Davis said. “ All of these people have helped me along the way. So I know what it takes. I think we’ve got the infrastructure now in this organization to move into the future.”

The skepticism and reservations regarding Brady and Davis’ willingness to follow the lead has merit. Can TB12 really lead the Raiders out of the darkness? Any maneuver the team makes deserves some questions — especially when you consider the track record the team has put forth since the late 90s and early 2000s. As well as the number of regime changes under Davis during his tenure as majority owner after his father Al Davis passed away.

The minority owner group’s foray this offseason does provide a semblance of hope. Carroll and Spytek are combining to be the new lead man for the Raiders. There will be a culture setting and expected growing pains.

“Pete is somebody who is a winner on and off the field. He builds a culture,” Davis noted. “I think Antonio Pierce was building a culture there with the players. That was important, and I think we’ve got to continue to build upon that.”

Davis didn’t speak much but he too is irked by the team’s descending nature rather than ascending one. And with Brady and Co. leading the charge, it’s wise for Davis to continue to lurk in the shadows as the true overlord.

We’ll see if the franchise-altering moves do lead to better results. And we’ll also get insight on Davis’ patience with this newly installed regime.

“We want to build something here,” Davis said. “That’s been the mindset all along. Like I said, it got blown up when Jon Gruden was sent away. So, we’ve been trying to get it right since then. We’ll see, but I’ve got patience to get it right. And I think we’ve got the people now.”

“Hopefully, this won’t be an annual thing,” Davis finished.

There’s a resounding truth in that statement, even if it was said in jest.