GOOD NEWS: raiders foolishly recruit Tom Telesco as general manager while continuing to take up Chargers’ scraps.
In a 63-21 loss against the Las Vegas Raiders on December 14, 2024, the Los Angeles Chargers gave up the most points in team history. The following morning, general manager Tom Telesco and head coach Brandon Staley were sacked because it was evident that the players on the field had lost faith in him.
The Raiders shockingly decided to hire the same general manager they assisted in firing less than a month later. Telesco has apparently been appointed as the next general manager of the Raiders, which feels like a dream come true for Chargers supporters.
In an unexpected but amusing move, the Raiders sign former Chargers general manager Tom Telesco.
For LA Chargers fans, this conclusion is quite humorous. It took a historic loss in a poor season for the Bolts to finally remove Telesco, as supporters had been demanding for years. Had the Miami Dolphins not passed on Justin Herbert in 2020, Telesco most likely would have been fired in 2021 rather than having the opportunity to appoint a third head coach.
For Chargers supporters, the Raiders’ ability to talk themselves into Telesco is hilarious. There is a misconception that Telesco has built one of the greatest rosters in the history of the NFL selection by selecting superstars in each selection.
Sure, Telesco selected elite players in the first round, but it isn’t difficult to do so when Herbert falls into your lap, Derwin James isn’t selected in the top 10 despite being expected to be there, and Joey Bosa is available to you with the third overall choice.
Telesco’s middle-to late-round selections were the true source of his roster building problems. The Chargers have never selected a real blue-chip player who has been a consistent contributor for more than a season outside of the first two rounds, with the exception of Keenan Allen (in Telesco’s debut selection).
Consider Telesco’s performance in the NFL Draft since 2019. The quality of both the draft picks and the signings is truly ridiculous. J.C. Jackson, Eric Kendricks, Trai Turner, Linval Joseph, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Bryan Bulaga, and Chris Harris. Every player the team moved or signed who failed.
In Telesco’s 11 seasons as general manager, the Chargers advanced to the postseason three times and emerged victorious in two of those trips. The team’s quarterback throughout that time was either Herbert or Philip Rivers. The Chargers’ lack of depth caused them to frequently perform below expectations.
Unquestionably, Telesco performed poorly in his role as Chargers general manager. However, the Raiders have decided to take a chance on him to lead the team for the next however many years because he chose a few well-known players that just so happened to fall into his lap.
This relationship won’t last long, knowing Telesco (and the previous short turnaround time in Vegas). Fans of the Chargers must treasure it while it lasts.
Kellen Moore’s coaching career has been peculiar. He became a QB coach with the Cowboys prior to the 2018 season, and since then, rumors about him as one of the best-and-most promising prospects for head coach have spread throughout the league. Then, a year later, he was elevated to the position of offensive coordinator for Dallas, and it appeared as though he might eventually succeed Mike McCarthy. That, well, never happened, and after four seasons in Dallas, Moore was fired—apparently for wanting to “light up the scoreboard.” In Los Angeles, he immediately established himself, and many believed he might ultimately lead Justin Herber and the Chargers to the next level. That, uh, didn’t occur either, and Moore’s standing in
Moore should be given the chance to hunt for a new job, considering how the Chargers are currently run. The organization has been aggressively courting Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of Michigan, among others, since firing Brandon Staley in the middle of the season. They’ve interviewed a ton of other candidates as well; among the many names they brought in for the first round were both Lions coordinators, former Stanford head coach David Shaw, and former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. However, some knowledgeable NFL reporters have reported that Harbaugh has long been the top target. Additionally, it was revealed on Monday that he will be appearing for a second interview this week:https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3000,h_1687,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/13/01hmvq55ssv1g9wkavt5.jpg
Given everything, you would think the Chargers would allow Moore to consider his choices. Seemingly not! Jeremy Fowler of ESPN’s NFL Insider claims that LA prevented Moore from interviewing for the position of offensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears:
On paper, the Chargers front management appears to have made a perplexing, if not unprecedented, move. Typically, new coaches are free to bring in an entirely new staff, and players from the previous organization are free to look for new positions on other teams. Blocking the move suggests that the Chargers are either). so confident in Moore’s potential that they’re keeping him in his role regardless of who he ends up reporting to, or 2. committed to keeping Moore as a potential candidate to be their next head coach, which would be somewhat surprising (and telling) for a number of reasons. They might also be waiting for Moore’s hiring partner to decide, although it appears like he’s
