Mark Davis showed his maturation as an owner when he let Josh McDaniels go from his job as the Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. His legacy as an owner could very well be defined by the most critical decision of his career: who will be the next leader of the Silver and Black.
Here are several of the decisions facing Davis:
· Throughout his time at the helm of the Silver and Black, Davis has been a collaborative leader.
· He likes input from people that he likes. Whether that be friends or even former players.
· When Davis fired Josh McDaniels, he made it while he informed people of his decision.
· Davis had given assurances that McDaniels would return to McDaniels. He didn’t lie to him; he meant it when he said it.
· Ultimately, Davis followed his gut and removed him.
· That was an evolutionary change by Davis, and now we will learn if it was a one-time thing or if he will continue down that road as a new trend.
· If the decision on the future is not going to be made by Davis alone, who will he listen to?
· This is the biggest question.
· Tom Brady is the greatest football player of all time.
· Brady has long had the respect and admiration of Davis.
· While the NFL shot down Brady’s earlier attempt to buy into the Las Vegas Raiders, multiple team and league sources confirm that “It isn’t dead,” and “It is not a matter of if Brady becomes a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, but when.”
· How much say will Brady have? If Davis doesn’t make it alone, it is safe to believe Brady will have an enormous influence.
· It is up to you, the reader, to determine whether or not a great player, moving into an ownership role, can or has been successful.
· Multiple teams and league sources also have told me of another name that it will be interesting to see how much of Mark Davis’s ear he has.
· That would be the widely acclaimed and respected journalist Jim Gray.
· Gray has won multiple awards in multiple sports as a journalist and currently hosts Tom Brady’s “Let’s Go” podcast.
· League and team sources have told me that Davis “Has huge respect for Gray, and values him as a friend.”
· I have been told, “Mark respected Jim before his friendship with Tom, but Jim is very close to Tom and it is because of that, Mark has so much trust in Jim.”
· At this point, Davis hasn’t been available to discuss publicly who will have his ear, but what about former players and associates?
· The question of whether Davis does this alone or with help, and then how much help, truly makes this decision a legacy-defining one.
· As one long-time NFL source told me for this article, “Mark has done so much good for the Raiders, I am really proud of him, but that place was built and is all about winning. All the good he has done means nothing to that fan base, and probably him, if he doesn’t win. He isn’t getting younger, its been a long time, he has to just win, baby.”
· The next decision is what type of team Davis wants. There are three kinds. No. 1. A Coach-Led Team: this is what he had the last two times, with Jon Gruden selecting Mike Mayock and Josh McDaniels selecting Dave Ziegler. No.2. A General Manager Led Team: This is where the owner would hire a traditional GM, and the GM would subsequently make the hire. No. 3. An Owner Lead Team: This is where the owner would hire both the GM and Coach, and they would report to him.
· I am an advocate for number two. To me, that makes the most sense when you are a deep football mind, in which Davis is not like his father.
· The problem is that you can have too many leaders. If Brady and even Gray are in Davis’s head, a GM becomes more of a figurehead.
· Ultimately, it is Davis’s money; if he isn’t calling the shots, the GM needs to be, and NO ONE else, in my opinion.
So there you go, a quick look into the diversity of questions facing Mark Davis as this franchise moves forward.
The Silver and Black will return home to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to take on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, December 10, at 4:05 p.m. EST/1:05 p.m. PST.
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