With Pete Carroll as the head coach and John Spytek leading the front office, there’s reason to be optimistic about the Las Vegas Raiders moving forward. Thanks to coordinator hires Chip Kelly and Patrick Graham, Sin City’s coaching staff as a whole looks more promising than it has in quite some time. The up-and-coming Spytek taking over as general manager only helps fuel Raider Nation’s optimism as well.
However, Spytek will step into his new role without the help of Champ Kelly, who served as the team’s interim general manager last year.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero noted this afternoon that the Raiders and Champ Kelly have mutually agreed to go their own ways heading into the NFL’s 2025 campaign. This was a decision that made sense to both parties, giving Kelly the chance to potentially set himself up for a general manager position elsewhere.
Kelly spent three seasons in Las Vegas, serving as Sin City’s interim general manager after the firing of Dave Ziegler. Although Kelly was a strong candidate to take over the general manager position full time, just as Antonio Pierce did at head coach upon being the interim head coach after Josh McDaniels’ firing, the job ultimately went to Tom Telesco.
Telesco, who John Spytek replaced in January.
The Raiders will now be in the market for a new assistant general manager. Las Vegas’ coaching staff is all figured out heading into the new year; now, the focus will be on finalizing front office positions.
Champ Kelly out with Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders; Jaguars GM job?
Kelly has interviewed for the Jacksonville Jaguars vacant general manager position. The Jaguars narrowed down their search to five finalists, and unfortunately for Kelly, the now-former Raiders assistant GM wasn’t one.
That doesn’t necessarily mean a general manager position isn’t in his near future, although that won’t happen this year.
For Kelly, it becomes more about setting himself up to take over for a general manager currently on the hot seat. That’s what happened in 2023 as Dave Ziegler was fired, although Tom Telesco would claim the available job.
We wish Kelly the best during the next chapter of his career.
*Top Photo: Kirby Lee – USA Today
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