From Michigan Man to Raiders master planner: Inside the rise of Las Vegas GM John Spytek

HENDERSON, Nev. -- Two decades before he was running the Las Vegas Raiders, John Spytek got his foot in the door of an NFL franchise as an intern for the Detroit Lions. For six weeks in 2004, he was earning $250 a week assisting the operations staff, and occasionally spent time with scouts in the film room.

The young intern from Pewaukee, Wisconsin, would arrive at the facility early and stay late, gobbling up projects and asking for more, despite this not being his only job.

"I bartended at a bar in Ann Arbor for three nights a week just to make ends meet," Spytek, now the Raiders' general manager, told ESPN.

Craig Vandermause, the Lions' director of football operations at the time, even suspected Spytek spent the night at the facility because of the hours he worked.

"He would eat, sleep and drink football, man," Vandermause said. "He was crazy."

An ambitious film and scouting junkie, Spytek eventually worked in the scouting departments for the Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos before holding multiple front office roles, including assistant general manager for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Part of Spytek's rise came from helping teams build strong draft classes. In 2024, he helped Tampa Bay draft wide receiver Jalen McMillan in the third round and running back Bucky Irving in the fourth. McMillan finished second on the team in touchdown receptions (eight), while Irving emerged as one of the top rookies in the league, rushing for 1,122 yards on 207 carries.

"In Tampa, where I felt like we got really good, we matched the quality tape up with the quality person," Spytek said. "And whether or not other people think that we drafted guys a little bit too high, I think the proof was in the pudding that those were the guys that we built that program on."

All those hours spent watching film, providing input and scouting talent will culminate for Spytek on Thursday when he's at the head of the war room as the Raiders make the No. 6 pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

Team owner Mark Davis believes Spytek, 44, and head coach Pete Carroll, 73, are the right pairing to lead an organization longing for stability and success. They've already made some splashy moves this offseason, including acquiring quarterback Geno Smith and signing Maxx Crosby to a record contract extension.

"You knew he was going to get an opportunity to be a GM," said former Broncos general manager and Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway, who Spytek worked under in Denver. "I think [the Raiders] are in good hands."

SPYTEK HAS BEEN a film junkie since his playing days at Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Under coach Bill Young, Spytek played outside linebacker and was a two-time defensive captain.

Young, coach of Catholic Memorial since 1975, called Spytek "one of the best" kids he has ever coached because of his physicality and his coachlike qualities on the field. But what separated Spytek from his teammates was his understanding of the game.

"When we watched film, John was always the last guy to [leave]," Young said. "John and I watched a lot of film back when we had [VHS] tapes.

"There are guys that don't understand how to watch film. I always ask kids, 'Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Can you break down everything in a split zone [run] or an option scheme?' Some guys have the innate ability to shift through the pictures and [understand] concepts. That was John."

Even as a high schooler, Spytek watched film with a scout's lens, according to Young. He was drawn more to the players than the schemes and the plays.

But before Spytek scouted players for a living, he had to evaluate himself. Following his senior season, Spytek went to Michigan on a scholarship and quickly learned he didn't move or hit players the same way his teammates could.

During a Michigan-Wisconsin game in 2000, Spytek watched from the sidelines as Michigan linebacker Victor Hobson lifted returner Nick Davis off the ground and slammed him after attempting a crack block.

"I'll never be able to do that," Spytek recalled telling himself.

Spytek, who played mostly on special teams in 37 career games at Michigan, knew the days of strapping on shoulder pads were over after school. However, he had an obsession with football that couldn't be tamed.

When Spytek interviewed for the Lions' intern position, he and Vandermause hit it off right away -- both are from Wisconsin and attended Michigan. Vandermause was impressed with Spytek being a curious learner and having a growth mindset, and not just on the operations side.

Spytek bothered anyone with a computer so he could watch film and keep growing his football IQ.

He wanted to understand what scouts were looking for in players, what made them tick. Did they like speed? Did they like high-character guys? Did they want to take risks?

"As a former player, [Spytek] fit right in with the group. The guys really took to him," said Martin Mayhew, Detroit's senior vice president and assistant general manager at the time. "He never thought he knew everything."

Spytek went on to spend five seasons with the Eagles from 2005-09, serving as an intern before becoming a scouting assistant and later a college/pro scout. From there, his career took him to Cleveland in 2010, where he was the director of college scouting for three seasons under former general manager Tom Heckert.

Spytek still gets giddy talking about the time he came across tape of Oregon safety T.J. Ward, the Browns' second-round pick in 2010. Ward was one of Spytek's favorite players to evaluate because of how his toughness and explosiveness jumped out on film.

"The way that he could strike ball carriers and blockers was just something that I've never seen anybody else do in a body as compact as his," Spytek said of the 5-foot-10, 200-pound defensive back, who played four seasons in Cleveland and three in Denver.

SPYTEK LOST HIS job with the Browns in 2013 after Heckert was fired, but it didn't take long for him to land elsewhere. Matt Russell, the Broncos' director of player personnel at the time, had a previous relationship with Spytek in Philadelphia and introduced him to Elway, the Broncos GM at the time.

Spytek was hired by the Broncos to be a southwest area scout that same year, and Elway picked up on his natural gift of identifying talent.

Following Spytek's first year in Denver, he was elevated to a national scout, a role he held for two seasons.

"Usually, it's a three- to six-year build for these guys that work in these systems, but for a guy to make the jump like he made with us, I thought, was unusual," Elway told ESPN.

After Denver won its third Super Bowl, Spytek joined Tampa Bay as the director of player personnel in 2016. Seven years later, he was elevated to assistant general manager.

Those who have worked around Spytek admire his ability to find late-round talent. He attributes it to his early days as a scout because those were the type of players he was assigned to evaluate.

"The guys that are good at pulling out fifth-, sixth- [and] seventh-round picks nine times out of 10 are the guys that might go against the grain and go, 'I know we've got some low grades on this guy, but hey, this guy can really help us,'" said Russell, who is currently a senior personnel executive for the Eagles.

"Spytek has done a great job of digging those guys that maybe weren't on everybody's radar. ... And again, that just points to his confidence as a person and scout."

ALTHOUGH SPYTEK'S TIME in Detroit was short, it was enough for Mayhew to establish a connection that proved to be beneficial over time.

When Mayhew was a GM in Washington and wanted to engage in trade talks with Tampa Bay, he called Spytek before Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht.

"I would call him because we had that relationship and I [usually] would rely on people that I knew when calling teams," said Mayhew, who is now retired. "It's been really exciting to watch his growth in the business."

Mayhew and Vandermause sensed Spytek's diligence and winning mindset early on. Through his Lions internship, Spytek gained an understanding of what goes into running a football organization, like coordinating practice schedules and getting teams to the airport.

At the same time, he grew his knowledge of the salary cap.

"I was just starting out in my actual player evaluation world and had less of an idea about what salary cap was and what a fair salary was for some of these guys," Spytek said. "I'm sure I got many wrong, but I remember taking a lot of pride in the few names that I got right."

He helped Vandermause create reports that evaluated players based on their performance and how much the team was willing to pay them.

"He would [say], 'What else can we dream up?' And we would start to get creative [about] how we would build out this player scorecard," Vandermause said. "I could tell right away that this kid had it."

SPYTEK IS WELL aware of the task at hand in his new role.

The Raiders have been to the playoffs only twice since 2002, and Davis has swung and missed multiple times in trying to establish a winning culture since inheriting the team in 2011 following the death of his father, Al.

Davis thought he had it right in 2018 when he brought back coach Jon Gruden. That was until Gruden resigned in the middle of the 2021 campaign, following reports that emails he wrote over a 10-year period included racist, misogynistic and anti-gay language.

Since 2021, Las Vegas has had five head coaches and four GMs. During that stretch, the Raiders have gone 18-33. In 2024, the Raiders fired coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco after finishing 4-13, their 11th losing season in 13 years.

Meanwhile, the Raiders' AFC West counterparts -- the Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers -- each won at least 10 games and made the postseason. Kansas City advanced to its fifth Super Bowl since 2019.

In 2025, the division will field perhaps the best ensemble of coaches in the league. Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh, Sean Payton and Carroll have combined for 721 career wins (regular seasons and playoffs), five Super Bowl wins and three AP Coach of the Year awards.

However, Spytek is not one to back down from competition, especially when he dreamed of this position since roaming the Lions' facility in his 20s.

"Jason [Licht] was like, 'You sure you want to go to that division?'" Spytek said.

Spytek understands what it takes to build a winner. So do Carroll and minority owner Tom Brady, who played one season with Spytek at Michigan before reuniting with him in Tampa in 2020. The trio has been a part of a combined 10 Super Bowl victories. That alone has Davis optimistic about the right infrastructure being in place to move toward the future.

"I have patience to get it right and I think we got the people," Davis told reporters following Spytek and Carroll's introductory news conference in February. "I'm really excited about it."

Spytek and Carroll are striving for sustained success. Their similar views on the current and long-term plans have translated to a "great partnership" thus far, Spytek said.

"Knowing that the relationship between the head coach and general manager is the most significant and impacting relationship, John and I have started off with a dedication to really collaborate in every way that we can bring out the best in both of us," Carroll said at the annual league meetings last month.

"I can already see us hitting it."

Spytek said he is also consulting with Brady on football decisions.

The process of reforming the Raiders might seem daunting, but Spytek has embraced it with unwavering confidence.

It's through that confidence the Raiders have hope they can change their fortune.

"We're not going to back down from any of the great teams in our division," Spytek said. "We're going to build the best team we can and be out there on Sundays competing our asses off."