HEADLINES

Egon Durban

Raiders Hire Headhunter For HC/GM Search; Pete Carroll Among Top HC Candidates

January 10th, 2025 at 5:37pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Raiders were already looking for a new head coach, and after firing Tom Telesco, they’re looking for a new general manager as well.

The team has brought in headhunter Jed Hughes of consulting firm Korn Ferry to join their search process, per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports. Hughes coached in college and the NFL for almost 20 years and has since helped multiple teams hire coaches and executives, including the Packers and the 49ers. He will join Tom Brady as a key voice in the direction of the Raiders this offseason.

Hughes’ NFL experience includes a two-year stint as the Vikings’ defensive backs coach under Bud Grant in 1982 and 1983, giving him a connection with one of the Raiders’ head coach candidates. Grant retired after the 1983 season, but returned to Minnesota in 1985 and hired Pete Carroll in Hughes’ former position.

Carroll is a serious candidate for the HC job in Las Vegas, according to Vincent Bonsignore Las Vegas Review-Journal. He has already interviewed for the same job with the Bears. Carroll stepped down as the Seahawks’ head coach last year, but remained with the team as an advisor.

Brady has plenty of his own connections around the league, including a relationship with Buccaneers general manager John Spytek, according to Jones. Spytek was Brady’s teammate at Michigan in 1999 and later helped bring the quarterback to Tampa Bay as the team’s vice president of player personnel. The Buccaneers then won Super Bowl LV in Brady’s first year.

Brady isn’t the only Raiders minority owner who could impact the team’s ability to attract top candidates. Egon Durban, CEO of investment firm Silver Lake, purchased 7.5% of the team in December, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. The persuasive power of Brady’s reputation and Durban’s financial resources could be a key factor in a crowded coaching market this offseason.

Egon Durban, Michael Meldman Have Deals In Place To Purchase Raiders Stakes

December 7th, 2024 at 7:30pm CST by Adam La Rose

DECEMBER 7: Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal notes the Raiders deals will indeed be on the agenda at the upcoming league meeting. Full ratification could therefore take place soon.

NOVEMBER 21: Earlier in 2024, the deals allowing Tom Brady, Tom Wagner and Richard Seymour to purchase a total of 10.5% of the Raiders was approved. Agreements are now in place for two more minority owners to join the organization.

Silver Lake co-CEO and Endeavor board chairman Egon Durban has a deal with Raiders controlling Mark Davis, as first reported by Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal. Durban will be joined by Discovery Land Company founder and chairman Michael Meldman provided their purchases are formally approved. Each will acquire a 7.5% stake should the deals go through.

Davis will still maintain control of the organization in the event the Durban and Meldman purchases receive approval. At least 24 of the league’s 32 owners will need to give the deals the green light, something which could happen during the NFL’s special league meeting next month. The finance committee has already reviewed the terms of the agreements, Vic Tafur of The Athletic notes (subscription required). A recommendation for approval could pave the way to the ownership group at large finalizing the deals.

One potential issue on that front is the fact that Endeavor has a sports agency arm called WME Sports. Durban owns a stake in the company, which has (among other athletes) NFL players as its clientele. By rule, NFL owners cannot also represent players or coaches; as a result, Durban will need to divest from WME as a condition of his Raiders purchase being approved. Fischer reports Durban has given assurances to the NFL that such a move will take place within four months of the deal being going through.

“WME Sports’ football group continues to operate business as usual, and we are prepared for various scenarios as it relates to our football representation business, which is thriving,” a company statement reads. “Our priority remains creating growth and opportunity for our clients and partners.”

Durban and Meldman’s purchases will come in part from Davis’ equity in the Raiders, as well as from the Boscacci and Lovingfoss families, descendants of some of the franchise’s original investors. Full financial terms are not known, but Fischer reports the deals will check in at a “much higher price” than the ones Brady, Wagner and Seymour paid for their shares (which valued the franchise at $3.5 billion).

Mark Davis has been in place as the Raiders’ controlling owner since his father Al passed away in 2011. The 69-year-old is set to remain in his current capacity for the foreseeable future, but further additions to his ownership group could be coming soon.