Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek headlined his second year in the role by securing former Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick of the recently concluded NFL Draft. The Raiders are under pressure to rejuvenate their roster after a woeful 3-14 campaign in Spytek’s first season at the helm.
How Raiders GM John Spytek Handles Ohio State-Michigan Draft Bias
Before he was an executive in the NFL, Spytek played for the Michigan Wolverines between 1999 and 2002. He was briefly a teammate of Raiders part-owner Tom Brady before the legendary quarterback departed for the NFL.
Spytek graduated from Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in general studies and also acquired a master’s degree in sports management.
During Wednesday’s segment of the “Up & Adams” show, Spytek revealed how he approaches drafting Michigan prospects vis-à-vis Ohio State prospects during the draft due to the programs’ intense rivalry in college football.
“I’ve got to get rid of my biases,” Spytek said. “I tell people all the time, I’ll take a bunch of Ohio State guys because they can play football. That’s like one-one millionth of the factor that we put it in. You get a little bump if you’re a Michigan man, but not too much.
“We’re not running you up the draft board. We tried to take Michigan players. You know, the draft doesn’t quite go like you want it to go.”
Of the 10 players drafted by the Raiders, none came from either side of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry divide. In addition, Spytek brought in 18 undrafted free agents to further bolster the Raiders’ roster next season.
The Wolverines extended their 88-year streak of having a player drafted into the league, sending six former players to the NFL. On the other hand, the Buckeyes sent 11 players to the league via the draft, with seven getting selected in the first two rounds in Pittsburgh.
Spytek started his post-Michigan career as an intern for the Detroit Lions in 2004 before moving to the Philadelphia Eagles in the same capacity. Over the years, Spytek worked for the Cleveland Browns (director of college scouting), Denver Broncos (national scout), and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (VP of player personnel) before taking the Raiders GM job last year.
After Spytek’s first season as the Raiders general manager, coach Pete Carroll was fired. Fresh off winning Super Bowl LX with the Seattle Seahawks, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak was hired as the new Raiders coach as they seek to improve from four consecutive losing seasons.
