As expected, the Raiders will have a new head coach in place next season. Vegas has fired Pete Carroll, per a team announcement.
Over the course of the 2025 season, it became increasingly clear Carroll’s NFL return would prove to be a one-and-done venture with respect to the Raiders. The Super Bowl winner fired a pair of coordinators in season, including the highly-compensated Chip Kelly at OC. Tension between Carroll and Kelly contributed to a highly underwhelming output on offense, something which did not tangibly improve after their split.
[RELATED: Brian Flores, Brian Daboll On Raiders’ Radar?]
Vegas won on Sunday against a Chiefs team which also had nothing to play for. That result ended a 10-game losing streak for the Raiders, but the Giants’ loss earlier in the day ensured Vegas will own the No. 1 pick in April’s draft. Selecting a quarterback first overall will no doubt become the expectation over the coming months, but before then a new head coach will need to be hired.
2025 saw general manager John Spytek brought in as part of the sweeping changes made by Vegas. He will play a leading role in the search for Carroll’s replacement. The statement issued by owner Mark Davis confirms to no surprise, though, that Tom Brady will work “in close collaboration” with Spytek on all matters of football operations. That includes the second HC search the pair will oversee.
Since moving to Vegas, the Raiders have been defined in large part by instability on the sidelines and in the front office. Jon Gruden‘s resignation has been followed by unsuccessful outside hires (Josh McDaniels, Carroll) and brief interim stints (Rich Bisaccia, Antonio Pierce) in between. Davis elected to give Pierce the full-time gig for 2024, a decision which did not pan out as hoped. Carroll represented a highly decorated replacement, but a win-now approach which included the trade acquisition of quarterback Geno Smith failed to produce the desired results. By late December, a large expectation existed that Carroll’s Vegas tenure would prove to be only one season in length.
Carroll was the oldest hire in NFL history when he joined the Raiders last winter. Now 74, his future on the sidelines will naturally be in doubt. A strong market is unlikely to exist in this case given Carroll’s relatively underwhelming end to his Seahawks tenure and his 3-14 campaign upon returning to the sidelines following a one-year absence. Carroll expressed a desire to remain with the Raiders for next season, but with that no longer an option it will be interesting to see if his coaching career will continue.
Numerous hires on the sidelines will be coming soon for the Raiders given the changes made during the campaign. Vegas joins Cleveland, Atlanta, Tennessee and the Giants as a team in need of a new head coach. The search process for Carroll’s replacement is set to begin immediately.
Kevin Stefanksi come on down!
To Atlanta!!!
Retread after retread after retread
Agree!!
Stefanski if he were smart won’t go anywhere near another dumpster fire! The browns were bad enough but to go to another crap franchise????? Are you serious even suggesting that? lol
Head coaches that Mark Davis will pay in 2026:
New guy
Pete Carroll
Antonio Pierce
Josh McDaniels
John Gruden
Am I missing anyone?
I think Gruden is finally off the books this year, and Pierce allegedly only got a two-year deal. It’s a shame what has become of this franchise since their last Super Bowl.
It’s what happens when you let your spoiled degenerate kid run your business.
I didn’t know he was a member of the degenerati, just thought he was incompetent & looked creepy
If you’re adverse to spending money then you probably shouldn’t be in Vegas to begin with. Davis won’t be spending money on victory celebrations anytime soon, so he can afford to pay a few head coaches.
He ceratinly doesn’t pay for a decent barber…and it goes downhill from there.
Why spend on a barber when you can spend money on the young women directly? Billionaire doesn’t need a nice haircut!
As far as I know they haven’t paid him anything in a few years now. When he sued them for wrongful termination they came to a settlement which included the remaining pay owed on the contract. I could be wrong but for some reason I thought I remembered reading that it was a lump settlement, not dispersed over time
Too old for these younger players. Belichick may be as well, but has his cocaine and champagne younger babe … haha
Pete Carroll probably wasn’t the answer but it’s really hard to see the Raiders ever being successful with Mark Davis running things.
Good luck to Fernando Mendoza.
If I was him, I’d either pull an Eli or go back to school. That situation is doomed. They fire coaches every year, and like you said, Mark Davis is a moron to the highest degree. Depending on a part time announcer with only experience as a former player who doesn’t even live in Las Vegas to run his team. What could go right? Like if Matt Ryan gets that Falcon job, at least he has enough respect for Blank to actually go there and do the job, not phone it in like Brady is.
It likely isn’t uncommon for the team holding the No 1 pick to be a complete poop show.
Not for almost 20 years straight. They’ve been one nearly continuously since they last made the Super Bowl.
True but they’re usually not this bad.
The Raiders aren’t even a hapless franchise like the Browns. They were fairly competitive with Carr. They’ve just been run into the ground by a bad owner.
It was so obvious Jeanty wasn’t the right choice, too. Imagine if they had Dart right now or even one of the better rookie WRs. Heck, they could’ve moved down and drafted both then got a stud RB in the second round.
I don’t think that Dart would have improved them, but I do agree. Jeanty at his best would probably earn the Raiders a Saquon Barkley type offense, with him run into the dirt and being injured as the primary weapon. I understand that they thought he was unmissable, but that doesn’t count for much if you can’t do anything with him.
The foundational aspects of this roster are sorely lacking, unfortunately. The coaching turnover and odd power structure don’t help, either. You have to feel for Crosby, because he cares so much about that team and competing that he’s probably wearing himself down internally more and more every year.
He’s basically Jay Ajayi without the knee problems.
I had that same thought earlier today, almost word for word. Jeanty’s better, of course, but it’s eerily similar in a way that I can’t completely put my finger on.
Hire never made sense on any level, but it’s the Raiders. Mark Davis is an idiot, and he surrounds himself with idiots.
I’ve said it before, but the only thing Mark Davis loves more than paying famous people to coach the Raiders is paying famous people *not* to coach the Raiders.
Is Vegas a better job than Cleveland?
Im not sure which is more attractive.
You’ll get that answer by who interviews. Haslam is a disaster as an owner, but legit people do interview for his job. Mike McCarthy wanted the job when they hired Stefanski for instance. Last year, McCarthy took his name off the table after the Bear job was filled and the Raiders were still open.
Yeah Cleveland at least has a good team overall. Vegas is way more poorly run.
Better state taxes in Nevada!
Assuming the Raiders draft Fernando Mendoza with the #1 pick, they potentially have their QB problem solved. That is a point in their favor over Cleveland.
One of the best comments I’ve heard was last season(?). The Vikings HC said to the point ‘franchises fail first round QB’s, not the other way around.’. He’s right.
Good comment. I’ve often wondered if Russell Wilson would be a journeyman if he had been drafted by the Jets, and Geno Smith a HOF had he been drafted by Seattle.
That should have read: the Giants WIN earlier in the day. not the Giants loss.
Maybe the people, Brady and Spytek, who hired Carroll and brought in Gino Smith to play QB because they thought the Raiders could compete in 2025 instead of doing a serious rebuild are not the right people to choose the next coach.
Same as always, Mark Davis has entrusted the team to someone who doesn’t have a clue, this time Brady. There won’t be any hope for Raider fans until he sells the team like Dan Snyder or dies.
Tom Brady doesn’t have a clue? Hahahahaha!
No, he doesn’t have a clue about building a football team. Completely different skill set to playing quarterback in the league. Ever hear of Michael Jordan? The parallels are eerie. Both bad on TV, both legends at playing the game, both bad executives in their sports.
Shocker. Make phone calls for Joe Brady and draft a QB for the love of pie
@sentinel. Hire daboll, draft Mendoza, and get Gannon as the DC.
Idk about daboll in that system
Yes, please take Joe Brady and let Daboll resign as OC in Buffalo.
Every fan in Buffalo would drive Brady to the airport. He’s not good.
Maybe Brady can be part owner, head coach and still do Fox Broadcasts.
That’s exactly what he’s doing.
Rich you forgot Tommy trading the #1 pick so He, Terrific Tom, can beat G. Smith in the 2026 camp battle for QB #1 while also being part owner (for now), head coach and still do the Fox Broadcasts all on Sundays!
Go Tom Go!!!
Before they do anything else, they need to fix the Offensive Line issues. Though free agency and trades, then through the draft if necessary before they even think about drafting a QB. They will ruin a QB if they don’t fix the line first.
You’d think that would have come up by now. They had almost identical rushing yards total and yards per cary this year after taking a first round RB, still couldn’t run the ball, and got their QB killed on a weekly basis.
Absolutely, positively no, maybe.
I’ll be happy if we get Mendoza. But if Simpson, Moore, and Manning all opt to return to school, and if they could trade back with the Jets for some serious draft picks, I wouldn’t object to that either.
Step 1…
Cut a hole in a box
I also wonder how the Raiders are going to square the circle of that Brady seems to have hired the coordinators there for Carroll. who is going to want to deal with that situation of someone like Brady having no accountability but having so much control?
As long as Davis trusts him, Brady’s going to be weighing on decisions, or making them. If I had to guess, this is a Brady/Spytek process, with Davis only included as a hanger-on as the owner to rubber stamp the decisions. I’m sure that he’s informed, but I’m just as sure that his franchise is operating per the whims of the other two, who have decided that they can forcibly fix (or simply mold) the organization into what their idea of a successful franchise is. It doesn’t seem based on adaptability or flexibility, but rather whatever Brady and Spytek’s preconceived notion of a successful franchise is.
But, of course, this is just my read. The only thing I think that is indisputable is that Brady will influence the organization as long as Davis is in awe of him. Given how nostalgic we’ve read that Davis is, that could be quite a while…no matter what the record looks like.
Draft a QB…then Oline ,Oline, Wr and then Oline
Throw some cash at Wrs and Oline
And then sign ufa’s at oline and oline and wr!!
HAs someone told that cereal bowl haircut to get OLINE!!
You forgot IDL, CB, IDL, CB…..
Don’t know which is worse, how that franchise has been ran, or Mark Davis’s haircut
“That result ended a 10-game losing streak for the Raiders, but the Giants’ loss earlier in the day ensured Vegas will own the No. 1 pick in April’s draft.”
S/H/B
BUT THE GIANTS’ WIN EARLIER IN THE DAY !!
Time to retake Proofreading 1001 !!
Stop copy-pasting the same messages
It’s been stated that ‘consistency’ is important to team chemistry – the Raiders are an example of why this might be a valid business model.
They’re ‘consistancy’ has been replacing Head Coaches as often as gasoline prices rise.
Mark doesn’t have a clue of proper ‘football management’ and bringing in Brady I doubt will be the ‘fix’ he imagined, Tom is more a spoiled self centered cancer thst hopes to one day ‘own’ the team. His ‘advice’ hasn’t provided any positive gains and seems more meddling is on tap.
isn’t it time for Brady to talk gronk into taking the job ?
Hall of Fame coach. Who could be successful in this insane franchise?
Here’s a sampling of the Raiders in recent memory …
2003-06 (from Super Bowl to #1 pick): 15-49, .234.
2007-09 (JaMarcus Russell): 14-34, .292.
2010-13 (pre-Derek Carr): 24-40, .375.
2014-23 (Carr years and pre-Brady): 71-92, .436.
2024-25 (Brady involvement): 7-27, .206.
Carr’s Raider teams may not have won a trophy but at least they were competitive. The Brady-era Raiders are not just uncompetitive, they’ve become unwatchable — and worse than when they had JaMarcus Russell. Imagine that!
This is just stupid. Why did they even pete if they were gonna give up on him after one season? Im not saying pete deserved another year but the first year in seattle wasn’t good either.
It just makes no sense. I see this more as a crappy build roster which the GM did.
Knew it was b a double d badd but didn’t realize how truly wretched it was since the 2002 Super Bowl loss. Thanks (I think) for laying it all out there. This team needs help everywhere except at K and P but that’s been the story for the last two decades. Hopefully, Spytek can work some magic in this draft with trading back a bit and filling out the secondary, LB corps and O-line. Another DT or DL wouldn’t hurt either. Would prefer the team to trade the #1 overall and parlay it into as many round 2 thru round 4 picks as possible this year and next given the multiplicity of needs. I know this will be the unpopular opinion…but play AOC at QB (if he wins the starting job) all of 2026, play ALL the draft picks and look to really strike in 2027 with a new FA or drafted QB with a ton of young guys on the O and D having gained a year’s worth of essential experience. If AOC turns a corner or has a decent year with average/above average performances from either or both the O and the D? So much the better.
Besides having the 1st overall pick in the upcoming draft…another bright spot for the team. Jeanty, I believe, set the team rookie total yards record. Almost had 1000 yards rushing and a decent receiving effort. Given how trashy the O-line and play calling (Chip Kelly?!?!) was, that is a minor miracle. Will be interesting to see what Jeanty can really do with a middle of the road-or better-offensive line.
Hate to see the coaching career end for Carroll like this but it was clear he just didn’t have it anymore (talent deficiency of his team aside)
Biggest mistake hired Brian Flores can’t coach good on defense, but not offensive coach
Wonder who the next fall guy will be. Hiring four coaches in five years is insane. Not to mention, look at the last few years, it’s been the exact same problems of a terrible offensive line. PFT posted a stat that the rushing yard totals and yards per cary were nearly identical from a year ago when Pierce was their coach. So you take an RB number one and hire a HOF coach and get worse results, but you think it was him. Okay.