Raiders continue front office overhaul, fire Reggie McKenzie’s number two man Joey Clinkscales

Back on December 10, the day Reggie McKenzie was fired as General Manager, Jon Gruden was asked if Director of Player Personnel Joey Clinkscales was still employed by the team.

“Yes he is. Yes, he is,” Gruden said.

Well, less than a month later, that is no longer true. Clinkscales has been fired according to ESPN’s Jim Trotter.

This move comes two days after the team officially announced Mike Mayock as the team’s new GM. One of the questions posed to Mayock was if he had some guys in mind for a good number two — the job Clinkscales held under McKenzie.

“I have 15 years worth of names,” said Mayock. “I think anybody on the coaching side or the personnel side that ever wanted to be in this industry always has kind of a ready list. I have that. I have a lot of guys that I respect, but the most important thing is to respect the guys that are here first. We have four months to get after it with the guys that are in this building, and we’re going to do it. At that point we can evaluate.”

Clearly Clinkscales was not on that list.

Prior to his joining the Raiders in 2012 along with McKenzie, Clinkscales was an executive with the Jets 17 years. In 2017 he was on the league’s Career Development Advisory Panel’s list of top GM candidates.