Silver Minings: Mike Mayock vouched for Rich Bisaccia to remain head coach

The stipulations to keep his job as the Las Vegas Raiders' general manager were always very clear for Mike Mayock. Owner Mark Davis said it at the beginning of the season and continued to echo the same message throughout the fall, make the playoffs.

However, that is exactly what the Raiders did and Mayock still got fired.

The NFL Draft aficionado has been in speaking to the media lately about his dismissal and has been respectful toward Davis and the organization. But, whether it was intentional or not, Mayock recently peeled back the curtain a little bit and potentially gave some insights on why he was let go to The 33rd Team’s Paul Domowitch.

“The two (special teams) guys I pushed for, for years to be head coaches were John Harbaugh and Richie Bisaccia,” Mayock said. “I thought both of them would be special head coaches. To the point where I recommended both of them to Boston College, a school near and dear to my heart, back in 2007. [Mayock graduated from BC in 1981]. Harbs interviewed for the job and didn’t get it. The following year he got the Ravens job and is one of the best coaches in the league.

“In my mind, I felt Richie had earned (the opportunity to be the Raiders head coach). I thought we worked incredibly well together.

“I think the way we looked at the situation was, we got this thing going the right way. We built a strong foundation. We had one of the youngest rosters in the league. Our salary cap situation was outstanding. We felt like we had the right kind of people in the building and the foundation was built. Now let’s continue to build on it. The bottom line was we were both pretty excited about the future there. Obviously, that’s not what happened.’’

Domowitch would go on to note that league sources told him Davis made his mind up about Bisaccia when the team dropped to 6-7 and, obviously, stuck to that decision. So, Mayock pounding the table for a dead man is what could have ultimately done him in too, especially since the team did end up accomplishing the owner’s goal.

Of course, this is only one side of the story and more of a connecting the dots situation than anything that’s a hard fact. The Raiders had plenty of first-round misses and a handful of bad free agent signings during Mayock’s tenure that also played a role in his firing.

Then again, wins and losses are all that really matter and the team went 25-24 in the three seasons with the former TV Analyst in charge and earned a postseason berth for just the second time since 2002.

In other Raiders’ links:

• Top 5 free agents still available: after missing out on Stephon Gilmore, the Raiders still have plenty of quality options on the open market.
• Added flexibility in Raiders draft: Picking later in the draft allows Las Vegas to go multiple routes, pens our Ray Aspuria.
• Draft visits: Raiders have met with SMU wide receiver Danny Grey, Virginia Tech tight end James Mitchell and Pittsburgh cornerback Damarri Mathis.
• Cam Jurgens mocked to Vegas: The 33rd Team sent the Nebraska offensive lineman to the desert in one of their recent three-round mock drafts.