Raiders GM Telesco, on Pierce and the Coaching Staff

New Las Vegas Raiders General Manager Tom Telesco discusses having Antonio Pierce in place when he arrived, and rounding out the rest of the coaching staff.

HENDERSON, Nev.--Las Vegas Raiders new General Manager Tom Telesco found himself in a great position when Mark Davis hired him to lead the Silver and Black.

The Raiders already had their leader in Coach Antonio Pierce, and there was no need for him to be like most new GMs and have to start a team rebuild.  

Telesco had his man and recently discussed Pierce and putting together the Raiders coaching staff.

Appearing on the Sunset Rewind, Telesco said: “To have a head coach, when I went in to interview for the job, I know he had the interim tag on there, but to me, he was the head coach. He showed during the season what he could do, he was productive with the football team, and he went 5-4 the last nine games.”

© Trevor Ruszkowski | 2016 Feb 25

He said about Pierce: “I had not worked with him before; I didn’t even know him that well, and the more I’ve gotten to know him, I can see why he did so well late in the year. It’s nice to have that already there, plus he has some institutional knowledge of this team that I don’t have right now. That’s great.”

Telesco then elaborated: “Our defense staff will be pretty much intact, I think, we are working on the offensive staff right now, which is really the biggest thing right now. Because we can’t really decide the type of style we are going to play and the type of players we are going to have until we know who the offensive coordinator is.”

This interview occurred before the news broke that Antonio Pierce had selected Luke Getsy as his Offensive Coordinator.

Can confirm that Raiders are working on an agreement to hire ex-Bears OC Luke Getsy as OC. Similar to Patrick Graham post-Giants, Getsy HIGHLY RESPECTED around the NFL with a recent lack of success that is predicated more on a head coach and organizational failure, than him.

— Hondo Carpenter (@HondoCarpenter) February 4, 2024

Telesco then returned to raving about Pierce" “He showed he could do it, I think he fits the Raiders style.”

From February 27 to March 4, 2024, the NFL Scouting Combine will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.

The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently hold the No. 13 overall pick.

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