According to Mark Anderson of the Associated Press on Tuesday, the Las Vegas Raiders have named Tom Telesco of Buffalo, New York as their next general manager. Telesco takes over from Dave Ziegler, who was fired on Halloween.
This is Telesco’s second general manager position. He was previously the general manager of the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers organization for 11 years from 2013 to 2023. In an ironic twist, Telesco was fired by the Chargers the day after they were completely embarrassed by the Raiders on December 15. In a primetime matchup 10 days before Christmas, the Chargers looked terrible offensively and defensively in a 63-21 Raiders romp.
The Raiders have also announced they are keeping Antonio Pierce as their head coach. Pierce was named the interim head coach of the Raiders on Halloween. In addition to firing Ziegler at the time, the Raiders also fired head coach Josh McDaniels. In nine games coaching the Raiders, Pierce had a record of five wins and four losses. While Pierce was the Raiders’s head coach, he had two notable wins. In addition to clobbering the Chargers by 42 points, the Raiders stunned the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs 20-14 on Christmas Day.
In addition to working with the Chargers, Telesco worked with the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts. He was a Bills intern from 1991 to 1994, a scouting assistant and area scout with the Panthers from 1995 to 1997, and a long time employee with the Colts. While with Indianapolis, Telesco was an area scout from 1998 to 2000, a pro scout from 2001 to 2003, the Colts director of professional scouting from 2003 to 2005, the Colts director of player personnel from 2006 to 2011, and the Colts vice president of football operations in 2012. While with the Colts as their director of player personnel, Indianapolis beat the Chicago Bears 29-17 to win Super Bowl XLI.
