Silver And Black Pride
Las Vegas Raiders head coach speaks highly of general manager’s ability
Four free agents brought in, four in-house options, re-upped, Tom Telesco and Antonio Pierce are well on their way to building a Las Vegas Raiders roster that reflects what the coaching staff wants.
While the duo has made moves, the partnership between the general manager and the head coach, respectively, is very much in its infancy. According to Pierce, the early returns on the new Silver & Black tag team are fruitful.
“We’re only probably two months into this bad boy together, learn each other’s mannerisms, talk, our reasons why, his reasons why, his philosophy, his big picture, my big picture, probably meshing that together, but being important is doing the right thing and not rushing to a decision,” Pierce said at the AFC coaches’ breakfast at the NFL Owner’s meeting in Orlando on Monday. “ Being aggressive? I mean, I’m always going to be aggressive. I want to win. That’s what is in my nature. It’s good to have a gentleman like Tom Telesco to calm me down, but at the end of the day I know it’s a production-based business and I’m not trying to wait two or three years to win.”
Las Vegas, particularly owner Mark Davis, has potentially struck the balance he wants from the GM/head coach pairing in Telesco and Pierce.
“He’s my balance. It’s yin and yang,” Pierce said of Telesco.
Pierce expanded on the balance the two are striking this offseason along with the pairing’s relationship with Davis.
“Yeah, the Mark Davis thing is cool, man. We have a really good relationship, you got to be around it to see it and understand it, Telesco as well, Pierce began. “Me getting to know him, understand his process, his why. But I think when you put us all together, I mean, because you know how Mark is, kind of know how AP is, and then you got Telesco, it’s a hell of a mix.
“I’ll tell you what, different personalities, but there’s one goal, and one vision in mind. And that’s to put the best product on the field and represent the Raiders the right way. And I think to Telesco, through his background understands how that process is, and he’s understanding more and more what it’s like to be a Raider, especially with AP.”
Whereas Pierce is a go-getter and wants to fix things as quickly as possible, Telesco is the collected personnel man who views the entire landscape rather than getting tunnel vision that can camouflage potential pitfalls. That wasn’t the case with the previous regime the where head coach seemed to be the final say and the general manager relenting.
That doesn’t seem to be the case in Las Vegas anymore.
Pierce remains true to himself and the aggressive “young bull” as he described himself. Telesco, though, is true to himself also by being patience to provide a Silver & Black equilibrium. Will it always be...
