While it’s far too early to claim success, Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady likes what he’s seeing from his general manager and head coach thus far.
Brady joining the Silver and Black has been a breath of fresh air for the organization. Whether Raiders fans care for the former New England Patriots quarterback is debatable. What cannot be overstated is the positive effect that his addition has had. He would have you believe he has little sway, which may be true, but the tide has turned one move at a time in Las Vegas.
Raiders owner Tom Brady has been at the root of all the changes…
Among those moves was the complete organizational turnover from top to bottom. After witnessing both Tom Telesco and Antonio Pierce be jettisoned out of Sin City, the Raiders found themselves needing a new general manager and head coach, respectively. Eventually, Brady’s cohort from Tampa Bay, John Spytek, took over for Telesco. Tracing their roots all the way back to the University of Michigan, it only seemed natural that these two could bring some of that winning magic they’ve experienced together.
The other piece, the man who made the Seattle Seahawks matter, Pete Carroll, followed suit as the new head coach. As far as Brady goes, he’s not taking any credit, as he recently spoke with Paul Gutierrez from the team’s official website.
“Well, I’m just a limited partner, so Mark’s the boss. And then Pete does his job and Spy does his job. I think we trust them to make the right decisions,” Brady said. “I’m there as a great sounding board for anything they want to do.” The Raiders have had a successful offseason with training camp on the horizon. Figuring out how much of that is due to Brady can no doubt be speculated about.
Time to go all in…
Still, it does appear Brady is all in on Spytek and Carroll. He cited the duo’s relationship as the reason for how the offseason has gone. More importantly, Brady noted why the work that’s being done by those two will hopefully pay off later on in the year. “They’ve worked together very well, and there are a lot of decisions that are made,” Brady stated. “Winning games in September starts with what happens in February, March and April, when no one’s really watching. They’ve been hard at work.”
Raider Nation surely agrees with Brady’s assessment. Nevertheless, what fans want to see is wins, not words. We see the same advertisement every offseason with every regime change. While that’s undoubtedly true, the Raiders haven’t had an apparatus such as the one currently in place. It’s made up of winners who have a keen understanding of how to mold a winning culture and then sustain it. There are going to be growing pains, sure.
This trio of Brady, Spytek, and Carroll might represent a monumental shift we haven’t seen for the Raiders, perhaps, ever.
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images