Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast: Details of our 1-On-1 exclusive interview with interim GM Champ Kelly
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00:00 Hello everybody, this is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast.
00:09 It is great to be with you today. Thank you for sharing part of your day with me.
00:14 I have an article coming that I want to discuss with you today.
00:19 It's a written article of a conversation that I recently had with the Las Vegas Raiders interim general manager, the great Champ Kelly.
00:29 And I want to talk to you about it in this podcast today, because I think it's very important and imperative for you to understand why I did it, how I did it, because I want you to be able to assimilate the information.
00:46 When Mike Mayock was relieved of his duties as general manager by Mark Davis, I quickly wrote a list of qualified candidates that I was hearing from around the NFL that could replace him.
01:01 One of the names on that list was Champ Kelly that I reported very quickly.
01:08 And a lot of people didn't necessarily know who Champ was at the time. They do now in Raider Nation.
01:16 But it was an interesting pick. So early this season, very early this season, I saw Champ and we visited for a little bit.
01:29 And I told him, I would like to do an interview with you, not really about the Raiders, but about you, your style, how do you do things?
01:39 What's the way that you operate? And he was amenable to it and was like, yeah, sure.
01:47 So we set on doing it during the bye week and then bye week, obviously, by the time the bye week got here, he was then sitting in the GM's chair.
01:59 So we did the interview last Friday, literally in the morning, right after the victory, the historic victory over the Chargers.
02:11 And it was an interesting interview for a lot of reasons. I didn't really want the interview to be about the Raiders.
02:19 I realize for some of you, you would just want content that's Raider only, but I wanted to be to see a macro picture, not micro.
02:29 I wanted to be able to really introduce you to the guy that's so respected around the National Football League.
02:38 The general train of thought is that it's not a matter of if he's going to get a general manager's job.
02:45 It's a matter of when and whether or not that's going to be the Raiders.
02:52 The Raiders didn't tell me there's no questions you can't ask them. He didn't tell me there's no questions you can't ask me.
02:59 I wouldn't do an interview in that setting. But I was very forthright.
03:04 And these are the questions I want to ask. I wanted people, you especially, to get to know him.
03:11 I've shared this story ad nauseum, and I know that sometimes hearing a story repetitively bothers people, but I think it's very, very important.
03:20 Years ago, I'm sitting down with my good friend Matt Millen on my television show at the time and interviewing him.
03:29 And he makes the comment that all of the NFL football teams, the fans think they're part of the team.
03:38 But what makes the Raiders different is that the Raiders players think the fans are part of the team.
03:45 At the Chargers game, my buddy Harry Ruiz, the Spanish broadcaster for the Raiders, took me out to Lock J to the tailgating.
03:54 And I got to meet so many amazing, amazing Raider fans. It was really an eye-opening experience.
04:03 It was just, there were these tailgates, and it was really like one big one.
04:15 And matter of fact, I met one guy, there were three tailgates next to each other, and they just all rotate each week who brings the main dish.
04:24 It was eye-opening for me. I've been to a ton of great college tailgates where it's almost like everyone tries to outdo everyone.
04:38 It's almost like a fashion show sometimes. Great experiences, but it's just, it's almost a competition.
04:49 The entire Lock J, and everybody had different foods, and everybody had all the different stuff, but it was, we're all one.
04:59 People were walking over to someone else's and trying this sausage, or walking over to this one and trying this, and eating this.
05:06 And people were trying to give everybody drinks and food and water.
05:10 And it was just, it was unlike anything I've ever experienced, not only at a professional level, but even at a collegiate level.
05:20 It was very, very unique. The only place that I would compare tailgating to the Raiders was at Green Bay.
05:30 At Green Bay, they're that way too. Very familial, very everybody.
05:37 Now, I'll tell you again, something that surprised me at the Raiders tailgate is there were Charger fans down there.
05:43 And yeah, people were yelling Raiders and having fun with them, but I didn't see one person that went too far.
05:53 It was fun. And you saw Charger fans tailgating with, there wasn't a lot of them, but there were some of them tailgating with Raider fans.
06:03 It was just a very unique experience. And what stood out to me, there were many things, but what really stood out to me was everybody had a story.
06:18 We met a guy named Uncle Jack who had tattoos all over his body, but they were a story, each one.
06:30 It was really unique just listening to him tell his story with his tats. It was really cool.
06:36 I mean, this is a man, I'm going to guess he's in his seventies.
06:40 But what the Raiders meant to him, it was just so incredible.
06:45 We met one family, there's a grandpa, a son and a grandson, three generations.
06:51 I thought that was really cool. Just listening to people's stories of what the Raiders mean to them.
07:00 Met a guy who grew up a Raider fan, but he'd gotten in trouble and went to jail.
07:06 And in jail, he was just briefly, it was a very brief conversation, but he talked about, you know, in jail it's divided and there are gangs and everything.
07:15 But then there's also, you may be a member of a gang, but you're a Raider fan and somebody else is a Raider fan.
07:22 And how the counselor used the Raiders to change his life.
07:28 And don't you want to go to a game?
07:31 And he was just a young kid and he's now an adult. I apologize, I don't remember a name.
07:36 I don't remember, I met so many people, it's hard to remember everybody's name.
07:39 And I am sorry about that. I'm going to be back out before the Broncos game and try to meet some more of you, but I apologize about that.
07:46 But it was the Raiders weren't, it's more than just fandom of a football team.
07:57 And if you are a new Raider fan and you don't understand that, I didn't either.
08:04 So don't feel bad. I didn't, was not raised a Raider fan. I cover them now.
08:09 I root for good people. And I'm going to tell you, I've really yet to meet anybody that works for the organization or anybody in the fan base.
08:18 That's not a good person. That's not good people, but it's just a different way.
08:24 And so the purpose of this interview with Champ was for you to get to know him.
08:31 He is known as extremely competitive.
08:36 Well, most people don't know he played at Kentucky.
08:40 And then, but he was a player that played various positions.
08:45 So I use that by saying to him, you know, clearly a quarterback's a quarterback.
08:52 But you were a versatile player. You played in non-NFL professional leagues.
08:59 How important is it for you if a player is not a specific position only guy for them to be versatile?
09:08 I think that tells you a lot about how he's going to draft.
09:12 I talked about how important is it to be scouting these non-NFL professional leagues.
09:17 I mean, we have the proliferation, USFL, XFL, there's Canada, there's indoor, there's small schools, big schools and college.
09:28 What's your philosophy on that?
09:31 Now, see, that is Raider-centric, but it's not Raider.
09:35 It's letting you into his mind.
09:39 What does he think? How does he see running an operation?
09:44 You know, he's extremely competitive, very, very competitive.
09:49 And so we dug in. Where does that come from?
09:53 Everything makes sense. I'll give you a quick example.
09:56 Growing up as a boy, I ate squash all the time. It was part of a Midwest thing in the Midwest.
10:02 You just eat a lot of squash. Well, I ate such massive quantities of squash as a kid that it got to the point where, OK, I can't have any more of this.
10:14 So if you ask me, why do I hate squash? It's not that I I hate squash.
10:19 I just ate so much as a kid. I'm not interested in it.
10:22 OK, I love to hunt and fish. Poured into me by my father, by his father, poured it into him and his grandfather poured it into him.
10:31 And that's our family. I mean, I've got cousins, distant cousins that we still are in contact, you know, third cousins.
10:38 Why? Because we hunted together as kids still. That's it. That's just who we are.
10:43 And so if someone says, I don't like hunting. OK, why do you? You can go back and find out the heritage in my family.
10:50 So I wanted you to be able to go behind and get to know the guy.
10:54 No, I really like Champ. I think he's super competitive, which gives him a huge advantage to some guys.
11:03 This is a job. To Champ, it's about winning. And to some guys, it's about, OK, I've arrived.
11:13 I don't want to take any risks. It's not Champ. He's not going to play it safe.
11:18 And I've heard a lot of people say, well, he's going to get a job and he's going to try to play not to lose.
11:23 No, that's Champ. It's not him at all. So I wanted you to go back to learn what forged that in him.
11:31 A lot of people are not aware, but he was, you know, with the Broncos and very successful with the Broncos.
11:37 Peyton Manning was there and Mike Shanahan and those guys really impact him, Elvis Dumerville.
11:42 And we go back and what did you learn there? And then he goes to the Bears.
11:48 And of course, everybody knows the Bears had a deal for Kool-Aid on Mac.
11:51 And we really talk about what did you learn from the Bears? Who were your influences there?
11:58 What were some things that really spoke to you? What were some things that really shaped and formed who you are?
12:12 And that's important for a lot of reasons, because when you know what shapes somebody.
12:20 When you know what drives somebody. When you know what matters to somebody, then you can get things in perspective.
12:30 I have a friend. Who's a journalist and him and I see life really differently.
12:38 And so one day we just went to lunch and I took him to lunch and I said, you know, I really like you.
12:45 You're a good guy. Tell me why you feel X, Y, Z, P, D and Q.
12:54 And thankfully, he was very warm and very much poured his heart out to me.
13:01 Now, I feel genuinely close to him. I respect him.
13:07 We disagree. We're polar opposites on a lot of issues.
13:12 But I really respect him because I took time to get to know him.
13:16 And I think sometimes in pro sports, guys get GM jobs or guys get coaching jobs.
13:24 But if you don't understand the way they are. All right. Let's go to AP.
13:32 You know, he's from California, grew up a Raider guy, super competitive.
13:38 He had to make the decision. Do I go one way?
13:43 Which is going to lead to a lot of trouble, which he's admitted, you know, some people in his life have gone that way.
13:49 Or do I embrace football? And he does.
13:55 And he attacks football the way he attacks sports. I think that is a fundamental blessing for AP.
14:04 I think it's helped make him into a good coach. Is that he attacks football.
14:09 He saw football as something. It wasn't just a game for him. It was almost a life raft.
14:16 Those are my words, not his. And so I wanted you to know in this interview.
14:22 And if it's before 9 a.m. Pacific and 12 Eastern, when you're watching this.
14:30 It publishes at noon, Eastern, 9 Pacific.
14:36 What how the interview goes about and if it's after, make sure you go watch it.
14:42 I mean, go read it. But I wanted you to be able to see it and to get to know him.
14:50 I said earlier and I'll say it again, it is not a matter of if Champ Kelly is going to run an NFL franchise.
14:56 It's a matter of when. Now, I'm rooting for him.
15:01 I want him to get the job with the Raiders. He's a good guy. I think he's a very smart football man.
15:07 I think he fits the culture. You know, you one of the things that you need to know that a lot of fans don't process.
15:17 And it's not because they're dumb. I'm not implying that.
15:22 But it's because they're not there every day is it's one thing to say, well, that guy was a great player.
15:27 He'll be a great coach. That doesn't mean that at all. Look at Irvin Magic Johnson.
15:31 One of the greatest basketball players of all time, horrible coach.
15:35 And he struggled with coaching because not everyone had his commitment to practice.
15:43 And it was very difficult for him. Or they'll say, hey, this guy did this here.
15:50 Let's go get him. How many times do you see an offensive coordinator get hired?
15:54 Frank Smith, the offensive coordinator at Miami, used to be here with John Gruden.
16:00 And a lot of people are like, well, let's go get Frank Smith. OK, that may be a good hire.
16:04 I don't know if Frank Smith will be a good or bad hire.
16:08 But I do know you're not getting the Miami offense because that's McDaniels is offense.
16:18 And and like Eric Biennium when he was with Kansas City and you read calls that.
16:24 Or Mick Lombardi when he's here with Josh McDaniels.
16:28 So it's not just let's go get somebody who's been around it.
16:32 You got to get somebody who understands the proliferation of it.
16:37 Somebody that understands how it works, somebody who understands the ins and outs.
16:43 You know, you can go get somebody who's hyper competitive.
16:48 But doesn't know how to get along with people. That's not going to work with an AP.
16:52 And it's not going to work. With a Mark Davis.
16:56 I think that Champ Kelly is the right mix of personality.
17:03 I think he is the right mix of drive. I think I'm sorry, I got a cold.
17:11 He's the right mix of drive. He's the right mix of being able to work with people.
17:19 I heard it said one time and I really thought this was good.
17:24 And I think it was Mike Holmgren who told me this.
17:28 But if I'm wrong, I apologize. But I thought it was at the Super Bowl in Detroit.
17:33 He told me this. Again, if it wasn't Mike, it was someone at that Super Bowl.
17:38 But I do believe it was Mike. And you may remember Mike was general manager, coach.
17:44 But the general manager is kind of like a link in the chain between the coach and the owner.
17:50 And they've got to be flexible because you're being that guy. Champ's that.
17:57 He knows how to process what the coach needs.
18:01 Keep in mind the vision of the owner as well as where he's steering the ship.
18:06 It takes a very unique personality to be a general manager.
18:10 There are some general managers that are very strong willed.
18:14 And it works. It works.
18:19 They may have an owner who's a little bit more passive.
18:23 Or they may have a coach. Not when I say passive, I don't mean weak.
18:27 But they're willing to, OK, you give me the tools, tell me what to make and I'll make dinner.
18:31 Then there's the bill of parcels. If you want me to make dinner, I'm about my own groceries.
18:35 And I just think where the Raiders are, Champ fits personality wise.
18:40 Number two, he's well respected around the league.
18:43 You say, why is that important? Because when he picks up the phone, you need other teams to take his call.
18:49 I know of general managers before that teams just wouldn't talk to him.
18:55 I know names. I know a GM watching.
18:59 Every time he did a trade, there was this article of how, oh, man, he just beat the other team up.
19:06 Well, he would go to media and say, man, I really took them to town because he wanted to make himself look good.
19:13 Well, just got to the point where no one wanted to deal with him anymore.
19:17 Nobody wanted to. And Champ's not that guy.
19:22 He picks up the phone. Every team's going to listen. Every team is going to listen.
19:27 Then there are some people who will listen, but don't really want to do a deal with you.
19:32 Believe it or not, I know this is hard for a lot of fans to believe, but there are a lot of deals that don't get done just because people don't like each other.
19:40 Even then they're beneficial for both teams. I know that sounds ridiculously stupid, but trust me, it's real.
19:46 Champ's able to do that. He not only picks up the phone and they answer, he picks up the phone and they listen.
19:53 People respect him. He's respected. That's a big deal for the Raiders.
20:01 The other one is, is he's a very keen eye for talent.
20:05 Anybody can pick a Peyton Manning, Khalil Mack, a player that's great and say, boy, we want to get him.
20:17 But good general managers make their living on the second half of the roster.
20:25 In fact, I was told once that a great general manager keeps his job by what he does after guy 20 on the roster.
20:37 20 to 53. And then of course the practice squad and everything else.
20:42 Jack Jones is here because Champ listened. He listened. Brought up.
20:50 OK, these may be some concerns that come with that player and the coaches, they will say, yeah, but X, Y, Z, P, D and Q.
20:56 OK, let's execute it. Let's go. He listens. That's terribly important.
21:02 In a sport that's predicated on communication, you'd be shocked at how few people actually communicate.
21:10 You know, I make this statement all the time. Our world has never been more connected.
21:18 But I don't know in my 52 years on this planet that there's ever been less communication.
21:26 That's sad. And Champ offers all that. Competitive, gets along with people, but he's a keen evaluator of talent.
21:36 He's super good. He knows how to build a staff. His own staff.
21:42 He knows how to let them know this is what I'm looking for.
21:49 This is what I'm looking for. This is what's important to me. And he knows how to make it happen.
21:55 So in this interview, that's the approach I take with Champ Kelly.
22:00 I wanted to give you the chance to know him. To understand him.
22:07 I would really encourage you to take the time to watch it. To understand it.
22:15 To really get to know him. I think after I mean, to read it, excuse me.
22:20 I think after reading it, I think you're going to say, yeah, this is the kind of guy I want leading my franchise.
22:26 This is a guy that's committed to certain things. What's important to him?
22:30 Faith and family and football. Those are his three F's.
22:36 Faith first. Family second. He's a great father and husband. But then football.
22:43 And he fits the need. Again, none of us knows if he's going to be the next Raiders general manager.
22:54 I think he should be. But if it's not here, it's going to be somewhere else.
22:59 And I think it's important for the NFL fans and Raider Nation to get to know who he is.
23:04 So I just want to thank you for taking some time today. I wanted to explain.
23:07 I think you deserve that. Why I did the interview the way that I did.
23:13 Because I care about him. And I care about you.
23:20 And I think that Raider Nation and him is a really good marriage.
23:24 And I think it was important for you to understand my thinking process and then to show it to you on why I did it.
23:31 So from all of us here at Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast, part of the Fans First Sports Network.
23:38 Thanks for joining us. Merry Christmas to all of you.
23:40 Remember, you can follow me on Twitter @HondoCarpenter, @HONDOCARPENTER, and on Instagram @HONDOSR.
23:53 Also, one other quick thing. If you don't want to watch the video of our podcast every day, you can listen to the audio on Spotify or on Apple.
24:02 Additionally, I do a second podcast every day. It's usually five to ten minutes called Riding with Hondo and Dexter.
24:08 It's usually when Dexter and I are in the car.
24:10 If I get off the phone with a player or an NFL executive or maybe I just walked out of practice,
24:16 but if I get tidbits or something that sticks out to me, I just do a quick five to ten minute audio only podcast that I think you'll really enjoy as well.
24:24 You can check those out there.
24:26 So from all of us here at Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast, part of the Fans First Sports Network.
24:32 Thanks for joining us, everybody. Merry Christmas.
24:34 Again, the article will publish at 9 Pacific, 12 Eastern.
24:40 If it's before then, please make sure you check it out.
24:42 But if not, go read it and enjoy it. Love to hear from you.
24:45 Thank you all so much. Appreciate you greatly. Have a good day.