3 & Out - Raiders GM, John Spytek joins the pod

John is joined by John Spytek, the GM of the Las Vegas Raiders. The guys talk about what it was like getting his first job in the NFL, the moment that he knew he could be a GM in the NFL, what the first few months as a GM have been like, his first NFL draft as a GM, and having a relationship with Tom Brady. All that and more!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume, what is going on? Everybody very very fired
up for today. I'm John three and Out podcast. Hopefully

(00:22):
you guys are doing well out there and do better
after you listen to this podcast, because we're throwing a
little bit of a curveball today. Just an interview and
that talk is going to be with Raiders GM John Spytek,
who you know, I've known of him for a long
long time. I think I've met him a couple times
over the years, but I think when he got the

(00:43):
Raider job, I had reached out and just said congratulations.
And the guy that hired me with the Eagles a
long time ago from Fresno State is very very close
with spy Tech and he actually just left the Eagles
to go work for John with the Raiders. So I'm
fired up. Spy Tech a lot of mutual friends. I've

(01:03):
never heard a bad word about the guy, and obviously
he's had a lot of success. You know, there are
not many people that have, you know, work with Peyton
Manning and Tom Brady. So we're gonna talk to spy
Tech about everything from being a GM to obviously draft
and ashing Genty and Pete Carroll to Max Crosby, to
working with Tom Brady where he worked very very closely,
like he went over the game plan with Tom on

(01:25):
a weekly basis when he was in Tampas As basically
the number two to Jason Light. So a lot of
football talk here. Pretty fired up for this one and
hopefully you guys enjoy it, share it with your friends.
You guys know the drill. If you listen on Collins Feed,
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(01:47):
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before we dive into spy tech, you know, I gotta
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Speaker 1 (02:51):
Let's dive into the interview. Okay, very excited to have
a man who's lived a pretty crazy football life so far.
He was named in late January. The general manager of
Dread is John Spytech.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
How you doing, man, I'm doing great, John, Thanks for
having me on the pot today.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
You know what's crazy? I was I was looking. I mean,
I knew your bio. I guess sometimes I forget that
you're Denver with l Way and Manning, but we could
have a pretty crazy I mean, you're not very old,
so you still got a lot of football left, but
your football life. You get hired by Andy Reid as
the Eagles were just humming in the mid two thousands.
Then you work for John Elway and Peyton Manning's the quarterback.

(03:34):
Then you're part of the crew that lands Tom Brady,
and then you work hand in hand with game planning
with them. And now you work with Pete Carroll. I mean,
we could do an NFL Films Football Life on you.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
You can pinch me a little bit with that stuff.
I actually hadn't even in my head. I hadn't even
added Pete Carroll to that dock. Again, since we're getting
started here, but I you know, I'm just so fortunate
to a bet around the people that I've been around,
and to to get my NFL start with Andy Reid
and when the Eagles really hummed back then, see really
what a successful organization looks like at how it's run
day to day and Andy's consistency, and you know how

(04:08):
stoach he was on a day to day basis. And
then I think about that staff that I was with
there too, with Howie Roseman and Tom Heckert and Jason
Light and Ryan Gregson and Matt Russell and you know
Anthony Patch, who's in Vegas with us now. I mean
we had a Hitters club back then in Philly kind
of everywhere you looked, and so just super grateful for
the people that I've been around. I feel be unfortunate.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
Same thing with the coaching staff, right, wasn't John Harbaugh
there Sean McDermott. I mean the coaching Jim Johnson.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yeah, Jim Johnson, Spags, David Cully, Doug Peterson. I think
there's like seven seven guys that were on the Pat Shermer,
seven guys and that staff that went out to become
NFL head coaches and I think four or five gms
from that staff.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
You know, you played at Michigan, so it's not like
you weren't used to big time football. But when you
get hired as the lowest guy in the totem pole
with the Eagles, I mean, I've been there, was it.
I was pretty intimidated, Like it was pretty overwhelming at first.
I mean the pace in which everything went. You just
didn't want to like get fired on a daily basis. Well,
do you remember that experience when you get the job.

(05:11):
Obviously there's not much money coming along with it. Not
that you even care when you're young, but you know
that experience a long time ago now, but obviously kind
of builds the foundation of where you're at.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
It was actually a pay increase for me when I
took that job, making seventeen thousand dollars a year in Philadelphia,
because I had just come from the Lions, where I
made two hundred and fifty dollars a week in the
two thousand and four season. But yeah, I mean, I
you moved. I mean I was a small town Wisconsin kid.
I went to Michigan, you know, I went to the
Lions for a year, and next thing, you know, I
can remember John thinking back to like, they offered me

(05:45):
the job, but you should be here in two days.
And I got to pack up a U haul trailer.
I got to find an apartment, and I mean, you know,
it's hard to find an apartment. In two thousand and five,
I was on Craigslist trying to sort it all out
and move to Philadelphia, the City of brotherly Love, and
trying to sort that out in my head at a
time when the Internet wasn't really as helpful as it
is now. But to your point, I didn't care I

(06:05):
didn't care what the money was, I didn't care how
I was gonna get there. I was just gonna get there.
I mean, they were coming off of just having just
gone to that Super Bowl. I mean, what an opportunity.
And you know, I just showed up with a positive mindset.
You know, give me every job you can possibly think of,
because that's what my job was in Detroit, and now
it was just more specific to the scouting department, and

(06:26):
away we went, and I just I mean I was
like to pinch yourself moment, stand there next to Andy
Reid and donovd Navi and Tera Lewens and all those guys.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
Well, it was there time. I mean, I'm sure you
talk about this a lot with players, like the power
of confidence and knowing you belong, you know, coming even
if you played in the SEC or the Big Ten,
to go to the NFL's it's a big jump, you know.
As a young scout, was there a time when you're like,
maybe not I'm gonna be a GM one day, But
I'm pretty good at this, Like I'm gonna make a career.

(06:55):
Because at first you're just kind of swim and keep
your head above water. And then once you kind of
get your feet wet start doing the job. Do you
remember a moment, maybe a draft room, maybe a situation
going into a school where you're like, Okay, I think
I can handle this.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
I do. It's a little more unique than maybe a
certain player. But I don't know how well you knew
Tom Hackert when he was with us. But Tom was,
you know, he was a man. He was not the
most social person I've ever met in the world. He
was an awesome person. I mean, I owe so much
to him, but he didn't really ever talk to me.
And my office was kind of like my desk was

(07:30):
kind of right outside his office, and he would walk
by and go hey, and then just keep going. And
I'd go home every night. My then girlfriend now wife,
Kristen was with me, and she was, you know, every
week how to go As Tom talked to you, I'm like, no,
he han't said anything to me yet, and other than
hello and about I don't know. If I'd be like
seven or eight months into the job, he kind of
walked by and I was watching somebody and said, who
are you watching? And you know, I kind of told him,

(07:53):
and he goes, what do you think? And I told
him and I went home that night and I told
my wife, like, the GM just asked me what I
thought about a player. I can't remember who the player was,
doesn't matter. And that was the probably the first time
where I thought, like, he cares now what I think
about a player. He's interested enough to stop, if as
busy as he is, and ask what I think. And then,
you know, Jason light was there at the same time too,

(08:13):
and about the same time I started going in his
office and peppered him with questions and you know, asking
him what he looked for in safeties and receivers and
tight ends and you know, one of the most important
traits and a But at the same time, he started
to kind of volley back to me, like what are
you looking for? And who do you like and what
are the traits you think are matter and to me,
like that's where I kind of felt like about six
seven months into the job with the Eagles, I was

(08:34):
maybe kind of taken off.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
You know, I've heard Sean McVay talk about this. I
think I saw Mike McDaniel talk about this too, Like
when they first became a head coach, they weren't always
cognizant about how the way they carried themselves, or like
their body language like affected everyone else. Because when you're
an assistant coach, you're just kind of head down worried
about yourself. And I think it's probably fair to say,
you know, you're a director of personnel or college scouting director,

(08:59):
you're just so focused on the board or the free
agency board. But when you're the GM, like you just said,
everyone's thinking like, Oh, the GM didn't talk to me.
How he looked at me weird, Oh he's really pissed off.
I know you haven't been in the seat for that long,
but you know, you're pretty you've been around the block
a few times, around a lot of people. Is that
something you think about, like when you walk in the
building that everyone now is kind of looking at you,

(09:20):
and Pete, it's not just you know, you're just one
of the guys that's looking at the others.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
That's a great question. I don't necessarily think of it
in that mindset, but I do know, and I'm acutely
aware of my job is no longer just to kind
of watch tape and stack draft boards and you know,
bring in workout guys and think about shortlists and all
that stuff. I mean, that's all a massive part of it.
But you know, as Pete and I try to get
this thing going in the direction that it needs to
go and the Raiders fans deserve, I'm acutely aware of that.

(09:50):
You know. I've got a lot of people now that
report to me on a day to day basis that
I didn't have in the past. And I had a
great mentor with Jason. I watched him kind of work
that building and walk through and and spend time with
everybody from the training room to the equipment room to
the outside of the facilities guys, the groundskeepers, and that's
that's the job that they hired me to do here,
and to me, I've got to be intentional about that

(10:14):
every day. Because we were talking, you know, before we
signed up. This building is a beautiful building, and it's
a massive building, and so it requires a little bit
extra And to me also like that was it was
really important for me to get a great team around
me here so I can know that everything's being taken
care of in the in the personnel department with Brian
Stark and Brandon Hunt and Anthony Patch and Mark Thus

(10:35):
came over from the Broncos too, so yeah. I mean
that's the job here. I'm in charge of a lot
of different things, and the human interaction and the communication
that's that's necessary to make those things really go is
wildly important.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
I couldn't find the exact number. Chat GPT wasn't dialed in,
but you had to interviewed a bunch of times before
this year, four different GM spots.

Speaker 3 (10:55):
Correct tinful yeah, three four? Yeah.

Speaker 1 (10:59):
Do you think you know your experience so far is
different than you expected? You know what being a GM
so far? I know the season hasn't even started. Hell,
training camp still a couple of months away, but what's
it been like so far actually sitting in that seat
than just being like John spy Tech is going to
be a future GM, Well now you're just John spy
Tech the Raiders GM.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
I haven't really been caught off guard by too many things.
I mean I would stop short of saying is what
I expected? But again, like I with my experience with
nine years with Jason and sitting you know, you know,
right next to him and watching him work, and that's
always kind of being on a strength of mind, I think,
and I've been intentional about observing and you know, taking
notes and you know, mental or actual physical notes about Hey,

(11:43):
this is what Jason's got to do on a data basis,
is what Tom Hecker had to do, how would I
handle that? So I've I spent a lot of time
over the past decade, really once I got that job
with the Browns in twenty ten, thinking about all these
different things, and so I don't I don't necessarily think
a lot of things catch me off guard. But there
are things that happen on a data basis that you
really can't predict. And am I prepared for all of

(12:06):
them to an extent, But I'm also kind of prepared
to be unprepared, if that makes sense, and problem solve
and work with people around here and communicate so we
can make all the important decisions for the greaters.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
You know, a lot of times when younger guys get
either the first head coaching job or the first GM job,
maybe they're with another guy who's inexperienced. I mean, you
get I was thinking about this. I mean, I would
say over the last definitely the Internet age, he's got
to be one of the more important football figures in
Pete Carroll. It's got to be a pretty unique landing
spot for you to come in with a guy who

(12:40):
basically ran an NFL program in college and then obviously
what he did in Seattle. So for twenty five years
he's kind of been kicking ass and taking names. Pretty
cool to be in your shoes and get to work
on a daily basis for a guy with decades of
knowledge at the highest level and winning.

Speaker 3 (12:57):
Yeah, I mean to the theme that we talked about
to start, super fortunate. The timing of it, you know,
with how it all worked out with coach, and you
know we from the first time we talked, I think
we share. We have a pretty common vision and share
a belief and what's important in players and programs. I
admired his work from Afar for many, many years. I

(13:17):
was on the receiving end of quite a nass kicking
in the Super Bowl forty eight in New York when
his team, I think it was forty three to eight
they beat our Broncos. And you know, there's a there's
a confidence in a what's the right word, just a
security in knowing that like he's got that all stuff
handled down there. You know, he's got a vision, he's

(13:39):
there's not many things that are going to surprise him
at all. He's seen a lot of it and he's
a great resource for me from that standpoint too, From
you know, day to day working with the team roster building.
You know, this guy's really ascending. Even though people might
not see it yet, this guy really maybe doesn't fit in.
You know. The draft process was was an awesome experience
with him and the coaching staff, and you know, I

(14:00):
just I'm grateful to to lean on his wisdom and
his experiences and that also we share a common belief
and it's just there's a lot of synergy between us.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
I mean on the outside obviously his energy, the ability
to chew gum at just a rapid speed, the shoes,
But is there something that you've learned about him, uh,
in your time with him that you didn't know? That's
that's been impressive.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
I just think how authentic it is. You know, it's
it's to a core or to his core who he is.
And you know, all those all those nuances, the gum chewing,
I mean, there's there's bubble. I think it's bubble, bubble, yum.
There's it's everywhere in the building. I Mean, you can't
walk ten steps and not be like, well, I'll pop
some more gum. And I've had this much bubble yum
since i was like ten years old back in Fewaukee, Wisconsin.

(14:44):
But he is who he is and it you know it,
the energy, it doesn't wane, it's it's there's a there's
a longevity to it that I think the guys really
respect and it resonates with him. And that's if you
look back to those Seattle teams. I mean the energy,
the legion of boom, you know, the way that they
competed and hustled like that. That stuff is real and

(15:04):
he preaches it every day, but he lives it every day,
and so I think it really empowers our players and
impresses our players to live that life too.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
Do you think it helps that you got like when
you went to Tampa with Jason and build that thing
to where it is now just kind of rolling and
making the playoffs every year? And obviously Pete who took
over SC that was not the SC that when he left.
And definitely Seattle I think didn't he like lead the
league in transactions his first year like seven hundred or something.

Speaker 3 (15:31):
So yeah, it was seven John, but we he talked
a lot lot.

Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah, it was legitimately like one hundred and fifty year
I mean, it was crazy. That makes this experience like
you both can lean back on, you know, this is
what we did. This what we did, especially Pete, like
he's been doing it since the nineties, of personnel transactions,
like with the forty nine ers, making this transition, which is,
let's face it, a little daunting, not only given your division,
but where the Raiders have been, you know, over the

(15:57):
course of recent history.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
Yeah, I think there's a confidence in at least in
my journey too, you know. I mean we I've been
a part of a lot of great teams. You know,
I went to Cleveland. I thought we did a lot
of good things in Cleveland for three years. We drafted
some really good players, but we didn't win. And that's
the most important thing, you know. When I got to Tampa,
we we struggled for two or three years there to

(16:21):
really kind of build that thing, and then we kind
of found our way through it. We had a lot
of critical, self aware, critical discussions, and you can almost
go back to like almost like a day or a
month in Tampa and know like this is when we
started to get it right, and this is where it
led us and it ended up with Tom Brady coming
and winning a Super Bowl right after that, and you know,
so there's a confidence, Like you know, it's always a

(16:41):
little bit different. Every organization has its own energy and history,
and so we've got to take that all into account too.
But with watching what Pete did basically everywhere he's been
and build it up and what we were able to
accomplish in Tampa, and then using my past experiences too,
and I think, I think we know what we need
to do, but now the execution of it is the

(17:02):
most important part.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
Obviously, the number changes during the season because you have injuries,
But didn't you guys have like forty four forty five
guys that were on your fifty three last year that
were drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneer. So it's basically
ninety five percent or something.

Speaker 3 (17:15):
Yeah. The stat I believe is at the you know,
the opening day roster of the first INITIAT, fifty three
to forty four of those guys were either drafted or
signed as undrafted free agents by by US. And I
think all all but two starters, which were Baker Mayfield
and Ben Brettison.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
How did you guys do that.

Speaker 3 (17:35):
We had a great scouting staff and we had a
great GM and we we really knew what we were
looking for, Like you know when we when we critically
evaluated ourselves in about twenty seventeen in Tampa and said
where we messed up? Where have we gotten it right? Okay,
well let's not. Let's stop doing the things that don't
work and let's do a lot more of the things
that work. And we started kind of right there until

(17:58):
seventeen eighteen. Those drafts were huge for us, especially eighteen,
and you go to that Super Bowl roster. I mean
a lot of those guys were seven or eight of
those prominent players were on rookie contracts, and we just
kind of stuck with that process of draft quality people
that played great football and then resign as many of
those guys as you can. And the reality is, if

(18:19):
you do that really well, you're gonna lose some guys.
We lost Jordan White ahead, we lost Alex Kappa, we
lost some guys. But we're able to keep so many
of those guys and pay him big contracts because you know,
we knew exactly what they were to their core. We
weren't scared to give Tristan Wirfs that deal or Antoine
Winfield that deal because we knew how good people they were.

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Speaker 1 (21:30):
One thing I think I saw you might have meant
the combine you were with Florio and you talked about
how Jason, who's obviously really really good with offensive linemen,
was you know, back to like the Logan Mankins study
in the mid two thousands. My cousin was actually on
the team in at Frozen State with him. He was
a long snapper, and I remember going there like Logan
Mankins is like that Jonathan Ogden a Fresno State, but

(21:51):
he was a left tackle in college and most people
didn't think he was gonna play tackle in the pros,
but he became an you know, Pro Bowl, all pro
level guy. And you guys were unafraid to go to
smaller schools and take their left tackle and move them
to any position because that's just where the best player.
It's like shortstop in little league is that, you know,
because I would say that the Eagles now their blueprint

(22:12):
is just like Bama Georgia. Don't even mess around that.
There are multiple ways to skin a cat when it
comes to scouting. It's not just you have to go
to Ohio State, bam in Georgia, even though you can't
really go wrong constantly doing that. I mean, hell, you
just drafted a guy six overall from a quote unquote
smaller school.

Speaker 3 (22:28):
Yeah. Yeah, it was something that works for us. There's,
like you said, there's a lot of different ways to
do it. You know when we looked at that. Jason
actually started that before I got there with Ali Marpette
and that was the two thousand and probably fifteen draft, right, Yeah,
and you know that worked and then beside Ryan Jensen,
and it's just you kind of have this feel like, hey,
it's he's not like to your point with Logan Mankins,

(22:49):
he's not a left tackle or a right tackle body
in the NFL, but he's the best player on his
old line and whatever school he's at, he plays the
most stressful position on the old line, left tackle. And
there's a lot of great qualities to those guys that
you know, just because physically they don't line up or
you know, get out of the bus off the bus
looking like you want your left tackle to look, it doesn't

(23:10):
mean they're not great players. And so you know, the
Ryan Jensen's, the Cody Max, the Alex Kappas of the world.
Graham Barton from Duke, you know, into center last year.
I mean, it's just something that really worked for us.
And they're guys that are wired the right way. They're
competitive as hell, smart as hell, and you know, I listen,
we'd all love the draft the best offensive lineman that

(23:31):
Georgia and Alabama have every year. But the reality is
you're not going to be able to do that. So
how can you how can you problem solve and line
up a bunch of guys that go out there and
as a group probably make up outside of the quarterback,
one of the most, if not the most important position
group in our game.

Speaker 1 (23:44):
Okay, let's talk about the twenty five draft before we
get into individual players. Your first draft is a GM
harder or easier than you thought.

Speaker 3 (23:55):
I didn't have much to compare it to. It was.
It was hard, you know, it was you know, it
was drinking from a fire hose. I mean, there's there's
a gift that I kept sending people. How's it going.
It's Peter Griffin with the fire hose up to his
face and the sun turns it on into when the
water stops, it's just to skull and a bunch of
blood dripping down his neck. But you know, it was awesome.
I mean, I loved it. I love the collaboration with

(24:15):
Pete and the coaching staff. Brandon Jurgen here did a
great job. Our college scouts kind of dove headfirst into
what I was asking him to do. And you know,
I feel good. I feel good about what we were
able to accomplish in a short period of time, which
I think, at least for me and I know for
ourn organization, brings us confidence that as we as we
work together here with Onboarding, Brian Starkin, Patch and Brandon Hunting,

(24:38):
all these guys from really winning organizations, we can do
we can do really great things here because to me,
and I've said it many times, the draft, if you
can if you can win at the draft, if you
can do better than your you know, the other teams
of the draft, that's how you build and a great
team and then sustain it. Well.

Speaker 1 (24:57):
I mean, one advantage you have getting this job is
because the Raiders record last year, You're drafting high in
this draft, and the other three teams in your division
are drafting later. So I mean, who knows how it's
going to play at the next couple of years. But
right now, for this upcoming season, the next couple of years,
you have access to just players that they don't. Did you,
did you feel like tangible pressure just based on the

(25:18):
division alone, and just know the daunting task that is
ahead you.

Speaker 3 (25:23):
First of all, I hope this is the last time
we pick in front of those guys. You know, I
don't want to pick up here anymore. But if given
the opportunity to pick in the top ten, we got
to We've got to be We've got to find an
elite player, and we've got to find an elite person.
And I think that that kind of goes with any round,
but you know, there's a heightened energy to it when

(25:46):
it's when it's in the top ten. I mean, you better,
in my opinion, you better be greedy about the kind
of player you're looking at, and greedy about the kind
of competitor and person and you know, passionate football player
that you're looking for. And so we found that in
Ashton in our opinion. You know, some people maybe don't
value the running back to a certain degree. I don't know.
I didn't imady to lose, so I went to Michigan.
We value the hell out of those guys. And he's

(26:09):
more importantly to me. He's a great kid. You know,
he he was revered in that Boise State program because
he treated people the right way and was a great
running back. And he's been every bit of that since
he's shown up here too. When you talk to people
around you know, our building right now, the first thing
they talk about with Ashton isn't how fast he is
or the fact that you know you can't get him

(26:30):
on you know, he never falls over. It's that man.
Is he humble and he's he's a great worker and
treats his teammates the right way, you.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
Know, full disclosure. I was one of those people that
just when you look at the draft historically, right, you know,
taking a guy in a deep running back class and listen,
I'm a whack Mountain West guy I at Revere Boise State,
and his story speaks for itself. I mean, he turned
down who knows how much money to stay at Boise State.

(26:58):
The character the you watch him on TV, it was
like a video game. But I mean, I'm sure you
guys had the conversation about balancing like the running back position.
We could get a guy in different rounds, but in
this individual draft was it just like this guy's too
good And clearly the quote unquote level of competition didn't
phase you. I guess just the scouting process on this player.

(27:21):
Because when you were in Tampa, I remember watching an
Oregon game had to be like week two. You were
probably asleep because it was like eleven thirty at night
Pacific standard time, and he's rushing for like seven hundred yards.

Speaker 2 (27:32):
I mean legitimately went for two hundred dards against number
one team in the country, your scouting process when you
were at Tampa and how that translated into following him
and vetting him before you pulled the trigger and made
him a raider.

Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yeah, it was funny things. I'm looking forward to out
here on the West Coast to seeing all the games now. Yeah,
waking up on Sunday morning and checking box scores and
being like, gosh, and had two oh six on Oregon
last night and I was, you know, I've been asleep
for three hours. You know, to your question, it's about
team building and what's the right way to do it.
And we had many conversations because it was a deep

(28:05):
running back class, like what's the best order to do
this in you know, if we take Ashton here, who
do we get in the second round. If we take
this player here, then maybe we can come back in
the second round getting running back. And you know this
group of players, you know, this position group, you know,
the more premier positions at rusher tackle, you know they're
going to probably be gone. Ultimately, obviously we decided that

(28:25):
Ashton was worth it, and to me, it's the kind
of person he is that that elevated it. Finally, we
were we can't we can't turn down twenty eight yards
short of Barry Sanders and a great humble person at six.
I mean, I I'd wake up every go I go
to bed every Sunday night wondering what Ashton Genty did

(28:46):
somewhere else in the NFL. Ultimately if we didn't take them,
and there was just a lot of motivation from the
way that we saw, the way that Pete wants to
build a team, the way that you know that Seattle
franchise change when when Marshawn Lynn showed up. Now I'm
not saying he's at Marshawn Lynch. I don't really do comparisons,
but the idea of this kind of tone setter in

(29:08):
the run game and the amount of times he's going
to touch the ball really matters to our program.

Speaker 1 (29:13):
When was a specific time that you felt comfortable in
the process when you were the GM they're like, Okay,
if he's there, we're gonna we're going to pull the
trigger and take him. Was there a moment either at
his pro day or sitting in the office with Pete
a week before and maybe you've talked about this already,
but where you just obviously he was growing on you
as you get to know the guy the visits the combine,

(29:34):
but just like, Okay, we have no problem pulling the
trigger if he's sitting there for us at six.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
Yeah, I'm a big believer in using the entire process.
So from the combine interview to the pro day that
I went to, spoke with the head coach for quite
a long time, watched Ashton move through that building. You know,
he came on our top thirty visit. He was great
in the building. So it was just kind of like checkbox, checkbox, checkbox,
And we had a lot of great visits with a

(29:58):
lot of great guys, and we had a lot of
great options out there. But as we talked about it
and visited with the staff and explained the idea to ownership,
it just became clear that if he was there, he
was going to be our guy. He was the right
kind of person for us at this moment and with
the way that we want to build this and you know,
he's he's just been an achiever everywhere and he's a
passionate football guy. And I think one of my my

(30:19):
two favorite things, may be bottom are the fact that
he didn't leave Boise. You know, they were the ones
that gave him the offer. He's a loyal guy. That
to me, if you track those guys over the past
couple of years that have done that, Quinia and Mitchell
was another one there. They're the right kind of dude,
Drake May, Yeah, they're the right kind of dude. And
Graham Barton was that for us, and you know, he
could have gone to a lot of different places, he

(30:40):
told us, and he's like, no, I'm a stay a dude,
Like they're the ones who believed in me, like to me,
like that stuff matters. And then the idea that he
he he was playing as a freshman in Naples, Italy
and just dying to play football. So I found the
place because his dad was you know, stationed over there
as part of the Navy and playing against Naples Italy.
And then his dad, you know, finishes his military career

(31:02):
and they're like, where should we go, And they're like,
let's go to Frisco, Texas for the football's great. I
want to compete against the best people in the country.
I mean, that's who the kid is to his core.
And so when it gets hard around here and hot
around here, I don't see a kid that will bat
and I see a kid that I'll just buckle down
and play.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
Four of your next five picks after genty were offense,
two wide receivers, two offensive linemen. Are you just to
purely let the board speak to me? Was there a
need on offense at the skill position with the wide
receivers just philosophically? Is that just somewhat random and that's
just how the board fell? Or was that an emphasis
going into the draft? Do we need a little more

(31:37):
skill and definitely some guys in the trenches on offense.

Speaker 3 (31:41):
Yeah, it really was how the board fell. I've made
it no secret that I love lineman and I know
Pete does too. I mean, this game's about the trenches.
But you know, we have a great process that I
learned in Tampa and have refined and added to the
way we do it here. We stack everything from you know,
quality of players, quality of person, scout evaluation, coach evaluation, injury,

(32:04):
character and as the board goes, we just pulled the
top name off the board and turns out that it
was five or six guys run offense. Still like how
we came back on day three with Taka and JJ
Pageese and guys are doing really well. Right now. So
I just tried to pick the best player for the
Raiders every opportunity.

Speaker 1 (32:22):
That we had, you know, speaking alignment. When you guys
got the job and you guys did that dual press conference,
I think Max was in the back and at the
time it was kind of being conversated about like, it's
just is he gonna get traded? Is he gonna ask
for a trade? What's gonna go on? And obviously Max
Crosby is probably one of the more respected guys in
the league just from a player and coaching executive standpoint.

(32:44):
People just love the way he plays. Was that just
something under no circumstance, We're just gonna find a way
to keep Max Crosby here? Or were there just serious
conversations you had with him at first before about a
month later, you know, give him one hundred million dollars.

Speaker 3 (32:59):
Oh he just body when Pete and I studied the
roster and listen, I mean, you do what I do.
You you have a lot of you know, in Tampa,
I watched the whole league. I mean, just so much
respect for Max and the way he competes and plays
the game on a day to day basis or a
game to game basis, play to play basis. I mean,
he's a guy plays one hundred percent of the snaps
at a high effort physical position. I mean it's really

(33:19):
unheard of, and it just became clear. I visited with Max,
but pretty much the first week I had the job
that this is the kind of guy that we want
to build this program around. And I mean sure that
there's plenty of people that you're a new GM and
they want to see if they can shake your trees
and see if they can steal somebody from you, and
you know, maybe or maybe not. Jason Lake tried to
get him before I even got on a jet to Vegas.

(33:41):
How many?

Speaker 1 (33:42):
How many? How many GMS called? Were you just like, man,
I'm hanging up right now.

Speaker 3 (33:46):
Would Yeah, it was. Jason was sitting in my house
telling me like, Max for a fifth sounds great right
now for everything I've done for you in my life.
And I was like, Jason, don't get me fired so
I can come right back to Tampa. I mean, at
least give me a real shot here. But he just
is what we we want to be, you know. I
mean when I when I sat with him, he asked like,
what can I do? To be better. And I said, Max,

(34:07):
this might be controversial, but maybe maybe we don't play
one hundred percent of the snaps, you know, maybe we
played ninety five percent of the snaps, so of the
biggest moments, you're fresh. And he was like, ah, kills
me to come off the field, Like, that's that's what
we want. When we traded for JPP and in Tampa,
he was a guy that he'd fight you to come
off if you try to take him off the field.
And when you're when you're trying to flip cultures like this,

(34:29):
we need more guys like that. We need guys that
are like, you gotta you gotta kill me not to
be out there. I gotta be really hurt not to
be out there. Otherwise I don't care. I'm gonna give
it my best every play. And you know, I just
I just didn't think. Pete didn't think really nobody thought
that the Raiders are a better team if we move
on from Max Crosby. And so we felt like giving
him his new deal that was earned and something that

(34:50):
we were motivated to do.

Speaker 1 (34:52):
Speaking a guy that doesn't like coming off the field. Uh,
Tom Brady was a guy you guys signed in Tampa.
I think Operation Shoeless Joe is what you called that thing.
There was just Dan POMPEII does when he does an article.
He did one about the DC Spagnola in Kansas City
and one on you and Tom's relationship. Both of them

(35:13):
two of the better things I've read that in the
last probably year. You know, there's that famous clip on
NFL Films where Brady's sitting in Belichick's office and it
came out like he basically went in there on a
Monday or Tuesday every year of his career, every week
leading in and you became Belichick essentially correct.

Speaker 3 (35:31):
You did say that. No, no, no, no, I'm.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
Just saying you played that role of going over the opponent. Yeah,
can you tell me about the nerves of that first
week one twenty twenty meeting of presenting.

Speaker 1 (35:45):
It was it Tuesday afternoon when you and Tom would
meet or was it Monday?

Speaker 3 (35:49):
I guess, yeah, it was Tuesday Monday, depending on you know,
the kind of the schedule for that week in the
cadence for that week. And yeah, Jason Kingman said, you
know they used to do that, and I'd seen all
them and I had consumed all those things. That came
out and to do your job post Super Bowl. So
I was aware of that this could be a possibility.
I don't think really anything prepares you for it. When

(36:09):
I mean everyone says we were teammates in Michigan, Yeah,
we were teammates. I mean we hadn't really spoken in
twenty whatever years it was up to that point. So
it wasn't like, this is my friend walking in the
building and we're just going to shoot the anyway. So
he was likely you got to do this, and you
know it's got to be good, and here's kind of
the format that they used in New England, and you
know you can put your spin out it however you want.

(36:30):
And so I had Rob McCartney, the new assistant GM there,
joined me because Rob's a wealth of knowledge and excellent
in his job. And thought like, you know, maybe probably
better to have two people here for Tom than just one.
And I just remember thinking, like, you know, he's like,
all right, babe, one He always called me babe. One o'clock,
I'll be up there in the draft room. And he
walked and I remember thinking to myself, like all right,

(36:52):
and just let it rip. And we talked about Marshaan
Latimore and Mario Davis and Janoris Jenkins and you know
all the Marcus Williams and all the great players at
the Saints Hacks. That's we played week one and he
walked out and I was like, well, we'll see if
he comes back. He came back the next week, and
so even though we didn't win and he threw two picks,

(37:15):
and but you know, there was it was It was
such a fun conversation because his rollodex of players is great.
You know, when you when you tell Tom like, hey,
this is a great corner, he goes, well, is the
drel Reeves? Well, no, it's a great safety. It was
Edrie de Troy, Paulamalu. No, but he's good, you know,
you know, and so we always had a fun back
and forth with that.

Speaker 1 (37:35):
Was there a moment like the Hecker moment during that
first season where you're like, Okay, we're on the same
page here, he respects me. I feel good. I'm not
maybe quote unquote nervous going in or every week you
felt like the ex because by then, I mean he's
freaking Tom Brady, right. Yeah, So was there ever a
moment or were you just were you always kind of
just pretty on edge going into that meeting because of

(37:58):
the just intensity of the guy. Or was he more
chill in that environment.

Speaker 3 (38:03):
I would not call him chill in that environment. I would.
You know, we had it. We had great football conversations,
but always passionate, always direct. You know, there's always it
was almost like going to a game. There was always
butterflies because you know, the the gravity of it. I mean,
it became less about talking to you know this this

(38:23):
you know quarterback. It became more about, like, how can
I help the Bucks be their best every Sunday? And
if I can give Tom the information that he needs
in a manner of which he can process it, compartmentalizing
that use it as necessary that that was the most
important thing to Robin myself. And it kind of came
about learning the way that he liked things, the order

(38:45):
in which he liked at house, to describe the player
to him so he could use it, you know. And
there was a couple times throughout that year that we
attacked a certain player that we told him to attack
that works, and you know, he never said anything. I
didn't know that that was the reason that our meeting
was the reason that he did it or they did it,
but I didn't know that it wasn't. And one of

(39:08):
the most poignant John, one of those poignant moments of
my career was standing on the sidelines in Washington and
Aaron andover before we were about to kick off against
the football team at the time, and he he was
reading something on the bench and we got the ball first.
He was reading something on the bench and then he
put his helmet out and threw it down, put his

(39:29):
helmet on and walked on the field and he was
reading the write up that we had printed for him.
And that to me was like wow, Like the last
thing he did before he walked on the field to
start our playoff run was read the read the little
writeups we did and all the Washington DB's, And that
to me was a pretty surreal experience.

Speaker 1 (39:51):
I mean, who would have thought. I mean, did you
realize at the time, Like four or five years later.
I don't know what colleague, your boss you want to consider,
but like your friend, you know the relationship that you
guys have developed, because like you said, you were at
Michigan with him, but it wasn't you were a walk on.
You were young, he was old.

Speaker 3 (40:09):
I wasn't a walk on, hold on, hold on.

Speaker 1 (40:11):
I wasn't Okay Scott Schollege Scholarge Scholegue scholarship.

Speaker 3 (40:15):
I didn't have a decorated career, but I did. I
wasn't good enough high school player to get a scholarship.

Speaker 2 (40:22):
It does say undrafted on your wiki page. Did you
get an invite to a camp?

Speaker 3 (40:26):
I went to grad school. I went and got my
master's degree in sports management because I'm a smart Michigan dude.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
So I guess in twenty twenty five, how would you
describe your relationship with Tom?

Speaker 3 (40:43):
Yeah, I mean, it's probably all those things that you said,
you know. I mean, at the end of the day,
like I'm not in this job because I'm his friend,
or we had a you know, a good time and
won a Super Bowl together necessarily in Tampa. I feel
like he gave me an opportunity to come interview for
your job because he thought that, you know, I could
help him and coach build something that that our our

(41:06):
fan base deserves and that this this larger organization deserves,
which is a winner that I had, you know, done
it at the highest levels that we had, We had
sustained Sasin Tampa, which is what we're looking to do
and ultimately, like, we've got a job to do here,
and that's that's the most important thing that matters. I mean,
this is a results driven business. There's nobody great There's
no greater winner in our game than Tom Brady and

(41:28):
that's what he expects every day. And that's why I'm here,
and that's why Coach is here, and that's why everybody
that we've brought in since we've gotten the job is
here because we've we've got to win football games and
we've got to do it soon.

Speaker 1 (41:41):
Do you feel pressure on on that, you know, just winning?

Speaker 3 (41:49):
Maybe now, I don't really look at it like that.
I feel like I got a job to do and
you know, it's easy. Maybe it's easy for me to
say that right now because we're not about to kick
off against the Patriots. But I mean, I'm sure there's
a press you're with it. But I feel prepared, I
feel confident. I feel excited for the challenge that lays
out in front of us, and it's Coach and I.
I've got a plan, We're going to execute it and

(42:11):
we're going to let it rip. And you know, our
expectation is that you see results this year, we see
progress this year, and we build this this franchise and
do the winner that we all just that everybody deserves,
and that we keep it there.

Speaker 5 (42:25):
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Speaker 1 (42:42):
Okay, I got a couple more quarterback questions because I
know you got actual work to do today. You know,
you run a football team in the NFL. But you
were just with Baker Mayfield the last couple of years,
and I thought last year, I don't know if he's
lost some weight. Obviously he's had a baby. His maturation,
he's become one of the better plays in the league.
I thought he was awesome. But I mean two years

(43:03):
ago when you signed him, at least from the outside,
there was a quarterback competition with Kyle Trask. So what
did you see from that guy that you signed for
I think four million dollars, you know, to compete for
a job to what by the end of last year,
everyone considers them. I don't know a top six, seven
eight quarterback in the NFL and clearly like the heartbeat
of your team.

Speaker 3 (43:24):
Yeah, it was a competition in twenty twenty three, and
that was a close competition. And I think the thing
that I respect most about Baker is he didn't come
in with any kind of attitude other than I'm here
to compete. I'm here to give you guys my best
and I'm gonna let it rip. And him and Kyle
went back and forth for a while and then really

(43:45):
Baker found his rhythm kind of halfway through the camp
and just let it rip. And you know, I've got
the most respect for Baker because he's survived a bunch
of different adversity in his life and I think each
time he's grown from it. You know, there's a there's
a self awareness to him that I think is probably underappreciated,
and he he is all those things that you want
as a quarterback. He can throw it, he's accurate, he's

(44:07):
really tough. If if he's a little dinged up and
he's gonna miss the practice or sit out of a practice,
you can walk by and give him a little bit
of grief and he kind of bows up on you
and says I'm gonna go out there and watch this,
And the trainer's going like, what what did you do
that for? Don't he needs to he needs to rest
a little bit. And I, you know, I just his
maturity I think stood out. You know, he had his

(44:28):
he had his baby, he's they're making Tampa their home,
and I just I got so much respect for him.
The way he handled himself from the moment he walked
in to the to the doors at one Buck has
been exemplary. And the guys, the guys up front, the
guys and the team, they love him for that. And
he's authentically who he is and he's a great dude.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
It feels like when Dorsy drafted him number one, a
lot of it was like the moxie and the intangible stuff,
which feels like it really came out for you guys
the last couple of years, like that, that version of
that player that we saw at Oklahoma.

Speaker 3 (44:59):
Yeah. Yeah, they just you know, really from the start
with Jason and Todd, they just told him just be yourself.
You know that you're a good football player. I mean,
the empower them powered him to be himself to to
you know, to let it rip and just he's got
a lot of really good players around here. He's got
a great online, he's got a Hall of Fame first
ballot Hall of Fame receiver, he's got one of the
other great receivers in Buccaneers history with Chris, and you know,

(45:20):
just just be yourself and do your job and it'll
work out. And he has and the results speak for
themselves last two years.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
The trade for Gino was that something that early on,
you know, there was rumblings out there that he could
be available. Obviously, Pete's history with John Schneider and the
player specifically, probably not your normal trade given that he
had just coached the guy, make it a little bit
easier to pull the trigger with, you know, I mean,
you're giving up draft capital, taking over a job that

(45:49):
you need players just kind of how to that materialize
and so far through a couple months of being around
and what your experience around Gino Smith, who clearly a
lot like Baker, just feels like an easy GUTA roof
for Yeah.

Speaker 3 (46:01):
Well, I think from the opening press conference, if I
remember correctly, it seems like two years ago, but I
think Pete and I talked about, you know, we'll look,
We'll look everywhere for a quarterback. And you know that
that wasn't just you know, coach speaker GM speak. We
were serious about it. So we we explored every avenue,
we call teams just to see. You know, I'd be
embarrassed to tell you some of the players we probably asked,

(46:22):
called and asked to.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
Trade for, but you just never even said no one Mahomes.

Speaker 3 (46:26):
We didn't go that far, you know. But with Geno
in particular, Pete has a history with him, and he's
played his best football for Pete and he played he
played well last year too, And so when you have
I mean it was a third round pick, but that's
not a nothing pick. I mean, those are those are
valuable picks in a GM's mind, in a scouting staff's mind.

(46:47):
And then to give him the contract we had to
give him too, I mean, we had a we had
a look behind the curtain, sent you with Pete to
feel really really confident about it, and you know, to
to talk to everybody in the building like, hey, this
is the right this is the right move for the
Raiders at this time. And he's been he's been everything
that we want him to be. So far's He's been
here for every every off season workout that we've had.

(47:09):
He's the leader we want. He's always been an extremely
gifted thrower. You see that every day in camp. And
you know it's a work in progress with with Chip
and the new offense and learning the new players and
the new system and having these rookies. We got a
lot of rookies that are in with with with snaps
with Gina right now. But he's been awesome so far,
and I'm excited to see him bring this offense to

(47:32):
life here coming up in September.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
Is there an attribute with that position that doesn't get
talked about that you guys talk about internally with coaches,
scouting staff, that when you listen to podcasts or television
shows that you never here discussed that you're like, guys,
there's an element. I mean, you've been around Peyton, Tom,
you know, Donald McNabb, a lot of h high level
players in your life. I don't I don't know if

(47:54):
that's a tangible asset attribute or something intangible that just
you're like, you guys are missing the boat on this one.
This is the defining characteristic or one of them that
helps lead to success.

Speaker 3 (48:09):
I guess I would say, you know, to that question,
I'd say work ethic. You know, like Peyton, I've never
seen anybody that work harder from Monday to Saturday than
Peyton and Tom Brady. You know, so they make it
look so easy on Sunday because they're so prepared, they're
so dialed in, they're so confident in what they're seeing

(48:30):
and what they're what they're executing, that it's second nature
to them. They don't they don't take days off, they
don't leave early and come in late. They their work
ethic is everything to them, you know. I mean Tom's
Tom's ability in particular, because I had a front row
seat for it, to take in so much information and

(48:52):
then compartmentalize it and use it when necessary is such
a unique trade because so much is demanded of that position.
I mean, you think about it. You break a huddle.
You know, you're in New England Week one, there's you know,
eighty thousand people screaming. You can't hear. You got to
know where everyone's supposed to line up. You got to
know the motions. Then you got to snap the ball,
and then you got to know where to throw. I mean,

(49:13):
there's so much. Think about the amount of information that
you have to process in a short period of time,
and what what work needs to be done before that
play even gets snapped throughout the whole week to execute
it at a high level. And it's just no accident
when you watch Peyton and Tom work and all that.
I've watched Geno work, why they're good, and I watch
Baker work, you know, like they work harder than everybody else.

(49:36):
It means more to them.

Speaker 1 (49:38):
Okay, I'll get you out of here. On the Gemini
question of the day, the Gemini credit card. You're in
crypto every time you make a purchase groceries, gas, you
name it, Gemini dot com slash card.

Speaker 2 (49:48):
What has we.

Speaker 1 (49:49):
Got to pay the bills around here?

Speaker 3 (49:51):
I respect it?

Speaker 1 (49:52):
What are the what's been the best perk of being
the general manager of an NFL team in Las Vegas?

Speaker 3 (50:06):
Sandra can get me on some golf courses that are
pretty cool. I'll say that our president, Sandra, this is
super well connected around here. And Jesus, you.

Speaker 1 (50:13):
Want to talk on my language now?

Speaker 3 (50:15):
Yeah. So I've got a chance to play the wind,
get a chance to play the Summit Club. I don't
get much time to do it, but that's probably been
the best perk so far because I'm a golf nut
and it's kind of my happy place when I'm away
from my family and away from football.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
Well, this summer, you know you're gonna find out is
one hundred and fifteen dry heat or is that Florida
ninety five humidity heat? I'll be interested to know is
what is more? Intent mostly humidity, but I'd say one
to fifteen plus. Living in Arizona is tough to play golfing.

Speaker 3 (50:50):
I know they're both hot. I'm a sick enough golfer
that I'll give it a shot at least. And I
do know when it's that hot, the ball goes really far.
So you can feel really good about yourself when you
can hit it and iron as far as you can
hit it. In the one hundred and fifteen prior heat, you.

Speaker 1 (51:03):
Got a US open pick on your way out.

Speaker 3 (51:06):
I mean i'd be I'd be fooled. And I say, Scotty, right, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:10):
He looks pretty good.

Speaker 3 (51:12):
Scotty, I like it.

Speaker 1 (51:14):
I don't think you can go from Scotti Scheffler, Okay, John,
I can't.

Speaker 3 (51:18):
Don't. Don't over think it, right, I mean I'd like
to make him more more off the radar pick. But
do this, I do'n overthink this.

Speaker 1 (51:24):
No well and enjoy practice to day. I can't thank
you enough for coming on with me and UH, I
look forward to watching you guys. It's guess I mean
it's it's gonna be fun. The AFC West is no joke.
You got Pete Carroll, Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh and UH
and Sean Payton. So uh, best of luck to you
and can't wait to watch your team play.

Speaker 3 (51:42):
Appreciate John, thanks for having me on today.

Speaker 2 (51:47):
The volume