Raiders Split On GM Hire Between Champ Kelly & Ed Dodds?

According to Vic Tafur, a team source indicated the Raiders search committee is “split” on how to proceed with hiring a new GM, with current interim GM Champ Kelly and Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds both having a lot of support. 

Tafur writes after the Raiders officially hired interim HC Antonio Pierce as the full-time head coach, some candidates for the GM job reached out to withdraw their candidacy, as it was assumed Las Vegas would also remove the interim tag for Kelly. 

Kelly also sat in for some of the Raiders’ coaching interviews, and was holding personnel meetings to discuss free agency, per Tafur. 

However, Tafur says the Raiders told candidates the job was still open and Pierce and Kelly were not a package deal. Kelly had a third meeting with Raiders leadership on Friday, but left the building without a new contract. 

Tafur notes Dodds has some strong connections in the building too, as he shares an agent with Pierce and worked for the Raiders at the start of his career. They also have interviewed him for a GM job in the past. 

Raiders owner Mark Davis leans on former personnel director Ken Herock as an advisor, and Herock has been an adamant backer of Dodds according to Tafur’s sources. 

Kelly, 44, began working for the Broncos as a regional college scout in 2007 and eventually worked his way up to assistant director of pro personnel in 2011. He left the Broncos to join the Bears as their director of pro scouting in 2015.

The Raiders hired Kelly as their assistant GM in 2022 and promoted him to interim GM following the decision to fire Dave Ziegler. 

Dodds worked for the Seattle Seahawks for 10 seasons and worked his way up to senior personnel executive. The Colts hired Dodds in 2017 and later promoted him to assistant general manager for the 2018 season.

We’ll have more on the Raiders GM search as the news is available.