Raiders general manager Tom Telesco, left, and head coach Antonio Pierce respond to questions from reporters during a news conference at Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024.
Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024 | 2 a.m.
The Raiders trumpeted the hire of Tom Telesco as their next general manager in a news release by mentioning 10 notable Pro Bowl players he had helped acquire in various roles throughout his last 20 years in the NFL.
Six of those 10 players, including some of the most notable including quarterbacks Justin Herbert and Andrew Luck, were on the offensive side of the ball. Las Vegas must hope Telesco’s offensive evaluation skills are as sharp as advertised because that’s what it needs most this offseason.
The first act of business for Telesco and now permanent head coach Antonio Pierce will be repairing an offense that was the biggest reason for the Raiders finishing with a losing record, 8-9, and missing the playoffs last season.
“You want to have an identity and the Raiders have an identity on offense,” Telesco said in his introductory news conference Wednesday at the team’s Henderson headquarters. “It’s speed and get the ball downfield. I think that’s definitely going to be a part of it.”
Pierce nodded alongside Telesco, who was more or less repeating a version of what the coach had just shared. Pierce had joked that what he was looking for out of his new offense and offensive coordinator next year was, “minimum 24 points.”
That’s a bar the Raiders only cleared three times last season — granted, all of them under Pierce/interim offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree and none for fired coach Josh McDaniels and fired offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi — and what they needed in a 23-20 playoff-eliminating loss to the Colts.
In every other offseason since the Raiders moved to Las Vegas, they had more questions on defense. But it flipped last year as a revitalized stop unit led the Raiders to a 5-4 record under Pierce in an interim role and a second-place finish in the AFC West.
To get to the top of the division — Pierce’s stated goal in the news conference — the Raiders are going to need to improve on their average of 4.7 yards per play that ranked 27th in the NFL.
“I need to get a lot more in depth with this team as far as more than just a couple games and then talk with the staff,” Telesco said. “We’ve got to do that at every position. That’s really probably the No. 1 (priority), for me. I have to get to know this team as well as the one I just came from.”
Telesco arrives from the Chargers, a team that like the Raiders has underachieved over the last four years with only one playoff appearance and no postseason victories. But offense hasn’t been Los Angeles’ issue in the span as it consistently ranked in the upper half of the league ever since Telesco used the No. 6 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on Herbert.
Herbert has eclipsed all expectations since coming out of the University of Oregon, and the Raiders are now on the hunt for their own franchise quarterback.
Jimmy Garoppolo, the starter at the beginning of last year before being benched under Pierce, remains under contract but could be released. Aidan O’Connell, who took over as a rookie for Garoppolo, had flashes of promising play but overall rated as one of the least efficient starters in the NFL.
“Aidan played pretty well against us, so that’s a plus,” Telesco joked in reference to the Chargers’ 63-21 loss to the Raiders that cost him his job in Los Angeles.
Telesco and Pierce only met for the first time a day ago, but the coach hasn’t taken it easy on the new colleague about that game.
“I told him I was going for 71 (points),” Pierce said with a laugh. “We were going for two.”
Pierce and Telesco have shown and spoken of some initial chemistry, which is important because in the coach’s words, “if he goes down, I go down.”
Telesco will have final personnel say in the Raiders’ new arrangement, but he noted everything will be a collaborative effort and viewed the relationship with Pierce as more of a “partnership.”
That will be important immediately because even before the duo can target a quarterback in free agency, which begins March 13, or the draft, which starts April 25, they’ll have to settle on an offensive coordinator.
The process is already ongoing as the Raiders have reportedly interviewed a wide assortment of candidates ranging from former Bears coordinator Luke Getsy, known more for the run game, and former Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, a spread disciple.
Others interviewed for the position include former Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson.
“It’s the approach,” Pierce described what he was looking for in an offensive coordinator. “It’s being a teacher. It’s being somebody that can stand in front of this room and the men that are looking at them like you’re looking at me, and that they believe in the plan and the process and that they can adjust on the fly because that’s what this game is about. Style of play, that’s always going to vary.”
Las Vegas has some weapons in place for its next offensive coordinator and quarterback including wide receiver Davante Adams, wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, tight end Michael Mayer and running back Zamir White. Free-agent running back Josh Jacobs has also expressed interest in returning to the team under Pierce.
But there’s work to be done elsewhere, as the Raiders could also break in as many as three new starters on the offensive line next season. Left tackle Kolton Miller and left guard Dylan Parham will presumably maintain their roles up front — or the latter could switch to center — but their counterparts on the right (Greg Van Roten and Jermaine Eluemunor) are free agents.
If there was any criticism of the Chargers’ offense under Telesco, it was that they were typically mediocre and lacked depth on the offensive line.
But Telesco is getting the rare immediate second chance to fix what went wrong in his first chance with another general manager position. The Raiders’ offense has a long way to go to become a playoff-caliber unit, but the new pair is confident in their ability to pull it off together.
“I’m really excited to partner with AP right here,” Telesco said. “You can tell in the interview — it was really my interview — but you could tell that he has leadership traits that a head coach has to have, and to me, it feels more like not so much ‘follow me’ but ‘join me,’ which I like in football, because he’s right in it with the rest of us and I think your football team takes on the identity of your head coach and that’s what we’re going to have here.”
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or
