The Las Vegas Raiders have hired a lieutenant to work under general manager Dave Ziegler, naming Champ Kelly their assistant general manager. Kelly was previously the Chicago Bears’ assistant director of player personnel and the director of pro scouting before then.
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Las Vegas Raiders add Champ Kelly
In Chicago, Kelly was responsible for pro evaluations, advance scouting, free agency, and the Canadian Football and Arena Football Leagues. He assisted the college scouting side for the Bears.
Kelly was previously with the Denver Broncos, working as an assistant director of pro personnel. The Broncos hired him as a Northeast regional college scout.
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In that span with Kelly as the Broncos’ assistant director of pro personnel, they won four AFC West division titles. Two players were named to the Pro Bowl for the first time: wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and offensive guard Louis Vasquez.
Before moving into personnel, Kelly was a certified NFL agent. He was also a general manager and receivers coach for a United Indoor Football League franchise in Lexington, Kentucky.
Before becoming a football executive
Kelly played wide receiver and defensive back at Kentucky. Before committing to football as his profession, Kelly worked in corporate America for IBM from 2002 to 2005 as a software quality engineer.
The Raiders have made a number of changes this offseason. That includes moving on from interim head coach Rich Bisaccia, who replaced Jon Gruden in the middle of the 2021 season. Bisaccia was able to lead the team to a playoff run that ended with a Wild Card loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Kelly will work alongside Ziegler and newly-named head coach Josh McDaniels this season. McDaniels was named head coach earlier this week after 13 seasons with the New England Patriots.
