Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jimmy Raye and Tom Telesco are effectively swapping places. The Indianapolis Colts hired Raye, the San Diego Chargers’ director of player personnel, to replace Telesco as their vice president of football operations. On Wednesday, Telesco was hired as San Diego’s new general manager, the position that most believed Raye was the favorite for.
Raye was with the Chargers for 17 years, moving up the ranks from a scout, to director of college scouting, and finally to director of player personnel. The promotion to general manager unfortunately didn’t happen for him.
The Chargers and Telesco clearly stated that they wanted Raye to remain in the team’s front office, but those feelings weren’t mutual. One can assume that Raye wasn’t too happy that he lost out on the general manager job to an outsider.
There was little reason for Raye to want to remain with the Chargers given that it appeared to be a dead end. Remaining in his current position and having to work with the man who beat him out for the job wasn’t a good enough consolation prize for Raye.
Colts general manager Ryan Grigson called Raye a “top-notch” evaluator and is excited to work with someone of his caliber this off-season.
Raye’s name had been bouncing around as a possible general manager in the league for the past two seasons. After losing out on Telesco, the New York Jets showed mild interest in Raye for their open GM job. Last season, the Chicago Bears interviewed Raye for their GM position.
