Raiders staff found out Mike Mayock was fired via Twitter
The Las Vegas Raiders underwent a lot of changes during the 2021 season. Head coach Jon Gruden was forced to resign over his leaked email scandal and top receiver Henry Ruggs was let go after causing a fatal car crash.
The adversity was unheard of and yet the team still made the postseason under the leadership of GM Mike Mayock and interim head coach Rich Bisaccia.
An early exit against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Wild Card round was frustrating, but the Raiders were still underdogs in the matchup. Owner Mark Davis does not seem to care as he began requesting interviews for both jobs right after the loss.
He took it a step further Monday by officially moving on from Mayock. NFL insider Albert Breer reported on just how dysfunctional the process went.
Couldn't make it up—When Mayock was leaving the building, the guys working for him thought he was leaving for the day. No one said anything to them. And they found out the rest via social media. https://t.co/niwMsMvdtD
According to Breer, Mayock's staff kept working only to find out he had been fired via social media. It appears to be a cold-blooded move, leaving his staff wondering if they will have jobs at a time when they are working hard on the pre-draft scouting process.
Raiders staff left in the dark over Mike Mayock's firing
The entire front office and scouting staff has likely lost faith in ownership after this move. They were hard at work and preparing for all the college showcases and All-Star Games.
So what are they to do now?
The Raiders have put their entire coaching staff in the same exact position. Bisaccia carried an interim tag, but it's not as if major changes were made once Gruden resigned.
The stability provided from Bisaccia helped the team maintain its composure and ultimately reach the postseason.
But everything is up in the air now for nearly everyone involved with the football side of the organization. At least the front office staff can begin preparing for what comes next.
Rumors swirled before the draft that Mike Mayock could be let go as Raiders GM in May. So this isn't shocking. But the way it went down was messed up. Scouts were working on all-star game/free-agency assignments, only to see requests going out for a job they didn't know was open.
The coaches, meanwhile, are left in a holding pattern, hoping Bisaccia can earn the full-time job and keep his staff for the 2022 season.
Mayock was an interesting hire to begin with as he spent years serving as an analyst on television. He then took the Raiders job and decided to trade for Antonio Brown.
Yet that decision may have been up to Gruden, who was on a 10-year deal with free reign to do just about anything he wanted. Once Gruden was gone, Mayock's chances of remaining with the team were slim as other candidates became available.
Ownership wants to win and hire the best people possible. The problem with the Mayock situation is that they could scare away top options who don't want to deal with any dysfunction.
They too may be worried a playoff berth could be followed up with a mismanaged firing discovered on Twitter before anywhere else.
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