With any regime change in sports comes many hirings and firings, and with newly appointed GM Reggie McKenzie and the Oakland Raiders it will be no different. McKenzie joined 'the Drive' with Eric Davis and Brandon Tierney to speak about hos move to Oakland from Green Bay, and why here was nothing Hue Jackson could possibly do to attempt to save him job with the Silver and Black.
McKenzie was straight forward when asked about Jackson, noting it was a purely business move:
If Hue Jackson had any chance to save his job:
"To save it? No. My mind was made up as I told him that. My mind was made up when me and Mark Davis had talked about it. No that was not. I did want to hear what Coach Jackson had to say which he laid it down."
As for leaving the defending champion Packers for the Raiders, McKenzie noted the vision he and Mark Davis have are in sync, which was a major factor is his decision:
What he needed to hear from the Raiders to leave Green Bay:
"I just need to know not only the direction but I need to hear directly from Mark Davis the vision he has. It coincided directly with my vision for this Raider team. He's gonna do everything in his power to make sure the plan is accomplished. We are totally on board with this thing together and we're gonna work hard to get this thing rolling."
McKenzie also spoke about whether or not having full control was important to him:
Whether or not he needed full control of the roster to leave Green Bay:
"The Green Bay Packers wouldn't have allowed me the opportunity to come here if I did not. We have one guy by the name of Ted Thompson who has full control in Green Bay and I'm working right alongside as his right hand. In his mind it would've been a lateral move if not. To me it was academic. That's neither here nor there. Mark Davis told me from the first time we spoke that I would have the full authority to run football operations."
Having a steady handed man like McKenzie at the helm will be different for the Raiders with all those years with Al Davis, but he seems to be saying the right things and making the big moves to try and shake the Silver and Black up for real and for the better.
For more on the Raiders, head over to Silver and Black Pride.