Reggie McKenzie (linebacker)

Reggie McKenzie (born February 8, 1963) is the current general manager of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. Previously, McKenzie was a linebacker for the Raiders and was later the director of player personnel for the Green Bay Packers.

Austin-East High School
McKenzie played high school football at the Austin-East High School.

University of Tennessee
McKenzie played collegiate football at the University of Tennessee.

Los Angeles Raiders
From 1985 to 1988, McKenzie played as a linebacker for the Los Angeles Raiders. He became a starter as a rookie at inside linebacker next to Matt Millen in a 3-4-4 defensive scheme, playing in all 16 games for a team ending the year with a won-lost record of 12-4, allowing 308 points (19.2 points/game), 9th of 28 teams, and winning the AFC Western division. The Raiders lost their divisional round to the New England Patriots, having difficulty to stop a running game which amassed 156 yards against them, led by Craig James' 104 yards behind an offensive line which featured John Hannah at left guard and Brian Holloway at left tackle. It was McKenzie's only playoff appearance. McKenzie also started all 16 games the following year, but at outside linebacker in a 4-3-4 scheme, with Matt Millen inside and Jerry Robinson on the other side, when the Raiders ended with a won-lost record of 8-8 and allowed 346 points (21.6 points/game), 19th among 28 teams. He returned as an inside linebacker in a 3-4-4 defensive scheme during the 1987 NFL season, the strike year, but started only 5 games, sharing time with Jerry Robinson next to Matt Millen, and then only 3 the following year, his final one as a Raider.

San Francisco 49ers
After sitting out three years, McKenzie came back in 1992 as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, but played in only 2 games.

Director of player personnel
McKenzie was employed by the Green Bay Packers from 1994 to 2012. He began as a scout, and gradually rose through the ranks to become the Packers' director of player personnel and eventually the team's director of football operations, while reporting to general managers Ron Wolf and Ted Thompson.

General manager
McKenzie was hired as general manager of the Oakland Raiders on January 5, 2012. Longtime owner Al Davis had been general manager since 1966, and retained control over football operations after becoming principal owner in 1972. Both Wolf (who had worked in the Raiders front office prior to his Green Bay tenure) and former Raiders coach John Madden recommended McKenzie to new owner Mark Davis, who hired McKenzie after an interview conducted jointly by Davis and Madden. He brought in his twin brother Raleigh McKenzie to become a college scout for the Oakland Raiders.

McKenzie promptly fired head coach Hue Jackson and hired Dennis Allen, who had previously served as the defensive coordinator of a Denver Broncos squad that barely beat Oakland for a playoff spot. McKenzie's first priority was to shore up a porous defense which allowed 433 points (27.1 points/game), 29th among 32 teams. Before the 2012 NFL Draft, he took four free agents to help the defense: outside linebacker Philip Wheeler and cornerbacks Shawntae Spencer, Ron Bartell, and Pat Lee, the last three second round picks from 2004, 2005, and 2008 NFL drafts, respectively, Bartell being the greater risk after missing the final 15 games of the season as a starter for the St. Louis Rams with a fractured neck.

In the 2012 NFL Draft, his first pick (due to previous trades) was third-round offensive lineman Tony Bergstrom, and his next pick was linebacker Miles Burris.

Personal information
His Super Bowl ring was stolen on May 3, 2009.

His twin brother Raleigh McKenzie also played in the National Football League as an offensive lineman for the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles. Both he and Raleigh are members of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.