As the 2012 NFL Draft approaches, there have been a large number of stories discussing the fact that this is the first time in years that the Oakland Raiders draft will be run by someone other than the late owner, Al Davis. However, lost in this conversation is the fact that the Raiders are looking to overhaul almost the entire football operations. This would include their scouting department, which notoriously included scouts that have been with the Raiders since the dawn of time. Now, with Reggie McKenzie running football operations, we are beginning to see the Raiders getting rebuilt from the ground up
After the Raiders hire McKenzie and Dennis Allen, they stepped away from personel hires as they dealt with free agency and prepared for the NFL draft. Now, as the draft approaches, a story has leaked that the Raiders could very well make their first personel hire since Allen, in the form of a new head of college scouting. News broke yesterday that Joey Clinkscales, the New York Jets' director of college scouting since 2008, will part ways with the team after the draft. Clinkscales interviewed for the general manager job with the St. Louis Ramsearlier this off season but was not offered the job. Now, with word that he plans on leaving the Jets, the Raiders were the first team to come to mind because Clinkscales went to high school and college with Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie.