Las Vegas Raiders News & Rumors

Coaching Notes: Faulk, Del Rio, Ryan, Bucs

February 7th, 2025 at 5:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

His Cowboys and Raiders connections in the past, Deion Sanders is still at the controls at Colorado following his son’s exit for the draft. The Hall of Fame cornerback is hiring one of his Canton brethren to coach running backs. Buffaloes backs will be taking instruction from Marshall Faulk next season, the school announced. This will be Faulk’s first foray into college coaching. A superstar at San Diego State in the early 1990s, Faulk enjoyed a Hall of Fame run with the Colts and Rams, winning a Super Bowl and an MVP award in successive seasons. He had enjoyed a lengthy tenure on the media side following his career, but the 51-year-old RB legend will join Sanders’ staff. Faulk’s addition makes Colorado a three-Hall of Famer staff, as Warren Sapp remains as a quality control analyst.

Here is the latest from the coaching ranks:

After being fired from his Commanders post late in the 2023 season, Jack Del Rio was not in the NFL this past season. The veteran DC and two-time HC will resurface in an unexpected place. He is taking over as head coach of the Paris Musketeers of the European League of Football. The league has been in existence since fall 2020, and the Paris franchise has played two seasons. Del Rio had coached in the NFL from 1997-2017 but took two seasons off before Ron Rivera hired him in Washington. The team did sport two top-seven defenses under Del Rio, but his last Commanders unit fell to 32nd at the time of his firing. Del Rio, 61, spent last season as an advisor to Wisconsin HC Luke Fickell.
Staying with well-known NFL staffers leaving the league, USC has hired Rob Ryan as linebackers coach. Ryan had been onboard as a senior defensive assistant for the Raiders since 2022. Ryan, 62, enjoyed two tours with the Raiders, having been their DC from 2004-08. The four-time NFL DC has not coached at the college level since being Oklahoma State’s DC in the late 1990s.
Out of the NFL since a two-year Texans stay ended in January 2023, Pep Hamilton will return to coaching in a prominent role. Maryland has hired the veteran assistant as its OC, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. An NFL Network contributor, Hamilton had other options, per Rapoport, but will join his son Jackson with the Terrapins. A high school QB, Jackson Hamilton signed with Maryland in December. Coaching Justin Herbert and Andrew Luck in the pros, Pep Hamilton previously coached in college under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford and Michigan.
Moving back to current NFL staffs, the Buccaneers have given title bumps to the two coaches they blocked from Jaguars interviews. Kevin Carberry added an assistant HC title to go with his O-line duties, while the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud adds assistant O-line coach Brian Picucci is now in position as O-line coach. The Bucs’ setup seemingly remains the same, but as they have long been reported not to be open to allowing Liam Coen to poach anyone under contract, his two initial targets will be taken care of.
The Giants are adding ex-NFL cornerback Jeff Burris to work as their CBs coach, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz tweets. The former NFL starter has been a college assistant in recent years, working at both Louisiana and Louisiana Tech since 2018. He previously spent three seasons as the Dolphins’ assistant DBs coach, being a Joe Philbin hire in 2013.

2025 Hall Of Fame Class Unveiled

February 6th, 2025 at 10:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

As part of tonight’s NFL Honors program, the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class has been revealed. It consists of just four players this year. Here is the full breakdown of the 2025 class:

Eric Allen, cornerback (1988-2001)

Playing long enough to be part of the Reggie White–Jerome Brown Eagles defenses to Jon Gruden‘s Raiders teams, Allen excelled well into his 30s and is one of the great playmaking cornerbacks in NFL history. Allen is responsible for eight pick-sixes, cramming seven of them between the 1993 and 2001 seasons. Allen finished his 14-year career with 54 INTs, which is tied for 21st in NFL history.

The Eagles drafted Allen in the 1988 second round and installed him as a starter on Buddy Ryan‘s defense in Week 1 of his rookie season. Allen intercepted 13 passes over his first two years, helping the Eagles — with White at the wheel — form a dominant defensive nucleus. The Eagles won the NFC East in Allen’s rookie season, ending a five-year playoff drought. As Randall Cunningham soared on offense, Allen patrolled the back line of a defense geared around one of the NFL’s all-time greats. Allen joins White as the Hall of Famers from that unit.

Allen notched four pick-sixes during the 1993 season, including this gem against the Jets, but the Eagles fell short of the playoffs that year and dipped a bit as the Cunningham years waned. Allen still made the Pro Bowl each year from 1991-95, following a first-team All-Pro honor in 1989. He signed with the Saints as a free agent in 1995, playing three years in New Orleans, before joining the Raiders in Gruden’s first offseason at the controls.

As the Raiders hoarded aging players who still had plenty left in the tank during Gruden’s first stint as HC, Allen was among the most productive. He nabbed six INTs at age 35 in 2000, returning three for scores. That season snapped a seven-year Raiders playoff skid and produced a run to the AFC championship game — the franchise’s first in 17 years. Allen retired after the ’01 season, starting 214 games. Among pure corners, that ranks third all time. While the turnover counts aided Allen, his longevity will send him to Canton nearly 25 years after his retirement.

Jared Allen, defensive end (2004-15)

One of the best sack artists of his era, Jared Allen will make this a two-Allen class (on a big night for NFL Allens). Jared excelled for the Chiefs and Vikings, being part of a win-win trade in 2008, and then retired after playing in Super Bowl 50 as a Panther. Allen sits 12th in the sack era (1982-present) in QB drops, racking up 136 despite playing only 12 seasons.

The Chiefs drafted Allen in the 2004 fourth round out of Division I-FCS Idaho State. He immediately became an impact edge rusher but joined a team in transition. As Kansas City’s offense-oriented team aged, Allen ascended and became a star for a franchise in decline. After the Chiefs made the playoffs in 2006 under first-year HC Herm Edwards, Allen led the NFL with 15.5 sacks in his fourth season. The 2007 Chiefs went 4-12, losing their final nine games. The Chiefs cashed out on a player who had encountered off-field trouble, in the form of two 2006 DUIs, early in his career. The trade equipped both the Chiefs and Vikings.

During the 2008 draft, Kansas City dealt Allen to Minnesota for first- and third-round picks. A win-win swap sent tackle Branden Albert and running back Jamaal Charles to the Chiefs in the ’08 draft, while Allen landed an extension (six years, $73.26MM) enjoyed his prime in the Twin Cities. Registering 14.5 sacks in back-to-back seasons, the second effort falling just short of a Super Bowl after Minnesota’s Brett Favre-led team lost in overtime in the NFC championship game, Allen then made a run at the NFL record in 2011. Allen tallied 22 sacks during the ’11 season, falling a half-sack short of Michael Strahan‘s official record.

Allen played out his Vikings contract in 2013, signing with the Bears. Chicago then traded him to Carolina for a conditional sixth-round pick during the 2015 season, as he joined fellow former Bear Charles Tillman in going for a championship with the Panthers. Although Carolina went 15-1 and ranked sixth defensively, the team’s high-powered offense fell to a superior Denver defense in Super Bowl 50. Allen needed to wait a bit before his induction, but he has gained entry in this year’s unusually small class.

Antonio Gates, tight end (2003-18)

Gates remains the NFL’s leader among touchdown receptions by a tight end. The longtime Philip Rivers target totaled 116 TD grabs during his 16-year career, bettering Tony Gonzalez‘s mark by five. Gonzalez also played 17 seasons (to Gates’ 16). Gates tied Gonzalez’s then-record in 2016, posting five TDs across his final two seasons. The converted basketball player’s mid-2000s surge helped the Chargers win four straight AFC West titles to close the decade.

The Chargers made Gates an integral part of that climb, which remains the franchise’s best sustained stretch since its Air Coryell years. LaDainian Tomlinson shattered the single-season touchdown record, which still stands nearly 20 years later, and Gates broke through as an impact tight end. The Chargers built their passing attack around Gates for many years, and he helped anchor the team’s skill-position group in between Tomlinson’s exit and Keenan Allen‘s arrival.

Initially playing alongside Drew Brees, the ex-Kent State hooper earned first-team All-Pro honors in his second, third and fourth seasons. Gates only suited up for the Chargers, walking away after his age-38 season. The Bolts and Gates agreed to five contracts, the most lucrative a five-year, $36.2MM extension in 2010.

Although Gates needed to wait a year before being enshrined, he is one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history. His 116 TD receptions rank seventh all time at any position. While his production tailed off as he hit his mid-30s, after making eight consecutive Pro Bowls from 2004-11, the former UDFA remained a solid red zone target for Rivers.

Sterling Sharpe, wide receiver (1988-94)

If the NFL had a No. 1 contender status to Jerry Rice during his peak, Sharpe would have been the best answer. The star Packers pass catcher was 5-for-7 in Pro Bowl nods, during an era where that meant more, and raced to three All-Pro first teams during a career cut short by a neck injury.

Sharpe was close to doing enough for Hall entry by the time he retired at 29, and he exited just before Favre grew into MVP form. In Favre’s early years, however, Sharpe helped the Green Bay trade acquisition become one of the game’s best.

The No. 7 overall pick in a 1988 draft that also included Hall of Famers Michael Irvin and Tim Brown, Pro Bowler Anthony Miller and single-game receiving yardage king Flipper Anderson, Sharpe was the first wideout off the board. The physical South Carolina product, who entered the league two years before brother Shannon (and with much greater fanfare), posted a 1,400-yard season in 1989, helping QB Don Majkowski finish second in MVP voting. Sharpe added another 1,100-yard year in 1990 and soared back to the All-Pro level when the Pack landed Favre in ’92.

Sharpe’s first year with Favre featured the wideout break Art Monk’s single-season record by catching 108 passes. Becoming the first receiver to post back-to-back seasons with 100 catches, Sharpe broke his own mark with 112 grabs in 1993. Sharpe led the NFL in touchdown receptions in 1992 (13) and ’94 (18), reaching the latter perch despite dealing with the neck injury and other ailments.

The Favre-Sharpe connection played a central role in the Packers snapping a 10-year playoff drought, and in the duo’s first playoff game, they hooked up on a game-winning score to beat the Lions in Detroit. Sharpe scored three touchdowns in Green Bay’s wild-card win. Sharpe never missed a game and retired ranking 13th in career catches (595) and 18th all time in TD receptions (65).

Raiders Add Joe Woods, Chris Beatty To Coaching Staff

February 6th, 2025 at 6:03pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Raiders are hiring veteran coach Joe Woods to serve as defensive pass-game coordinator on Pete Carroll’s staff, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Woods has 33 years of coaching experience – 11 in college and 22 in the NFL – including stints as defensive coordinator for the Broncos (2017-2018) and the Browns (2020-2022). He served as the Saints’ defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, but was not expected to return amid New Orleans’ coaching overhaul this offseason. Instead, Woods will reunite with the Raiders after spending the 2014 season as the team’s defensive backs coach when they were located in Oakland.

Woods is widely respected around the NFL for his experience as a defensive backs coach. Of his seven seasons as DC, his defense ranked in the top 10 against the pass on four different occasions.

The Raiders also hired Chris Beatty as wide receivers coach, according to The Athletic’s Tashan Reed. He began his coaching career at the high school level and then spent 15 years in the college ranks in a variety of offensive roles. Beatty broke into the NFL in 2021 as the Chargers’ wide receivers coach, but was not retained on Jim Harbaugh‘s staff in 2024.

He then moved to Chicago, where he began the season as wide receivers coach before a promotion to interim offensive coordinator after Matt Eberflus was fired. Offensive play-calling duties remained with interim head coach Thomas Brown, though neither coach was retained under new HC Ben Johnson.

Beatty got career-best production out of Keenan Allen in 2023, but the rest of Los Angeles’ receivers group struggled in his tenure. In Las Vegas, he will take over a unit that lacks proven talent outside of Jakobi Meyers, who put up career-highs in 2024 despite the Raiders’ carousel at quarterback.

Baker Mayfield Contract Floated As Range For Sam Darnold Deal

February 5th, 2025 at 10:23pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Vikings are facing a crucial offseason decision with Sam Darnold, who played like a top-five quarterback for most of the regular season before collapsing against the Lions and the Rams to end the year.

After proving himself on a one-year, $10MM deal in 2024, Darnold will be looking to cash in with a strong long-term contract, in Minnesota or elsewhere. The Vikings, meanwhile, are expecting 2024 No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy to recover from his torn meniscus in time for training camp.

Darnold’s flashes of high-level play mixed with late-season struggles under pressure create a complex situation for the Vikings. They clearly see the younger, cheaper McCarthy as their long-term quarterback, but his injury cost him a crucial year of development, while Darnold proved he can play well enough to make the postseason in his stead.

Minnesota has yet to decide on Darnold’s future, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, but they are open to re-signing him after a successful debut season under Kevin O’Connell. The Vikings have just over $58MM in 2025 cap space, but Darnold isn’t their only concern. Several starters, including left tackle Cam Robinson, cornerback Byron Murphy, and running back Aaron Jones are set to hit free agency. However, none of those players are expected to merit the franchise or transition tag, which remains in play for Darnold.

Darnold’s value will be a subject of debate leading up to the new league year. Unsurprisingly, agents and team executives disagree on his worth. The former group believes Darnold shouldn’t accept anything less than the four-year, $160MM contract Daniel Jones received from the Giants, while the latter has compared his situation to Baker Mayfield and his three-year, $100MM deal with the Buccaneers.

If Darnold is pushing for a contract similar to Jones’, the Vikings may be best served by a year-to-year approach. The franchise tag, projected by OverTheCap to be $41.3MM, may be too expensive, but the $35.3MM transition tag might be an appropriate middle ground. Darnold could test his market, while the Vikings would retain the ability to match another team’s offer. The Raiders and the Giants have already been mentioned as potential fits for Darnold, per Fowler, given their need at quarterback and available cap space.

AFC West Notes: Raiders, Bolts, Broncos, Nix

February 4th, 2025 at 6:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

The brain drain in Denver continues. Losing high-ranking exec Darren Mougey to the Jets, the Broncos have also seen two Sean Payton staffers (John Morton, Declan Doyle) become OCs elsewhere — Detroit, Chicago. They will now see one of their front office staffers join a division rival. The Raiders hired Mark Thewes as their senior VP of football operations Tuesday. Thewes, 48, will reunite with John Spytek, his coworker in Denver during part of the 2010s. Coming to the Broncos back when Josh McDaniels was hired as HC, Thewes lasted through several regimes, joining Mougey in that regard. Despite McDaniels’ quick dismissal, the Broncos retained his former high school teammate. McDaniels’ quick Las Vegas ouster notwithstanding, he will join Spytek, Tom Brady and Pete Carroll among the Raiders’ bigwigs.

Thewes follows David Shaw out of Denver’s front office; Shaw is returning to coaching, being set to join Morton in Detroit. Here is the latest from the AFC West:

The Raiders are retaining DC Patrick Graham and D-line coach Rob Leonard, but offensive staffers are departing. Running backs coach Cadillac Williams, wide receivers coach Edgar Bennett and assistant QBs coach Fred Walker are out, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler tweets. Additionally, linebackers coach Mike Caldwell and cornerbacks coach Ricky Manning Jr. will not be back. This comes a year after the Jaguars fired Caldwell as DC. Williams joined the Raiders’ staff last year, while Bennett’s tenure stretched back to Jon Gruden‘s 2018 return. Formerly the Packers’ OC, the ex-NFL running back coached Raiders receivers under Gruden, McDaniels and Antonio Pierce. He has been an NFL staffer since 2005. Caldwell was part of the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl-winning staff, overlapping with Brady and Spytek, making it a bit more interesting he will not be asked back.
Las Vegas had a name in mind to replace Bennett, but a division rival will not allow it. The Chargers blocked a Raiders request to meet with Sanjay Lal, Fowler adds. Jim Harbaugh hired Lal as his WRs coach last year, and the team is intent on keeping the veteran position coach. Lal was on Carroll’s staff as an offensive assistant in 2020; because he is still under contract with the Bolts, they can block any lateral move.
Elsewhere on the Chargers’ staff, they will lose safeties coach Chris O’Leary to the college ranks. Western Michigan is hiring O’Leary as its DC, ESPN.com’s Pete Thamel reports. O’Leary had been safeties coach at Notre Dame from 2021-23.
Bo Nix passed on a Pro Bowl Games invite, as an alternate, due to a cleanup procedure, 9News’ Mike Klis notes. It is not known what issue this operation will address, but it does not appear Nix is in much danger of missing the Broncos‘ offseason program. Nix played through a transverse process fracture in his back during the season. Any type of back surgery would certainly be notable for the impressive rookie QB, so it will be interesting to learn what exactly will be addressed via this cleanup.
Asante Samuel Jr. missed 13 games this season, slowing his momentum in a contract year. Samuel said he dealt with “stinger symptoms,” via The Athletic’s Daniel Popper (subscription required). The second-generation NFL corner said he has dealt with these symptoms throughout his career, and a flareup occurred during a practice before Week 1. Another issue cropped up before Week 6, leading to the shutdown. Samuel said he should be fine for offseason work, though it is not certain where that work will be. Playing outside and in the slot for Los Angeles, Samuel said he wants to re-sign. The 47-game Chargers starter joins Kristian Fulton in being a free agent-to-be at CB from this secondary.

Raiders Interested In QB Marcus Mariota?

February 4th, 2025 at 3:13pm CST by Adam La Rose

Quarterback will again be a position to watch closely this offseason for the Raiders. With the much of the team’s new coaching staff in place, one veteran name has emerged as a free agent option.

“There could be a little bit of interest in Marcus Mariota between the Raiders and Dolphins,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter said during a Pat McAfee Show appearance (via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald). “He’s gonna have some choices this offseason.”

Mariota’s relationship with Tua Tagovailoa is a factor which could make him a Dolphins target. Miami is aiming to acquire a high-floor backup, and the 31-year-old would meet that criteria. Mariota has 93 appearances and 74 starts to his name, although his last run of first-team action came with the Falcons in 2022.

In the event he were to return to the Raiders (after playing there from 2020-21) , the Oregon product could be an option to compete for bridge starter duties depending on how the team operates in the draft. A Vegas deal would represent a reunion with Chip Kelly, who coached Mariota in 2012 and is now back in the NFL as the Raiders’ offensive coordinator. The team will of course have other options to consider, though.

With the second-most projected 2025 cap space in the league, the Raiders will have the wherewithal to win a potential bidding war for the top passers in this year’s free agent class. Sam Darnold is therefore a name to watch, as is Russell Wilson since he and head coach Pete Carroll are once again on good terms. Vegas currently holds the No. 6 pick in April’s draft, which may put the team in range for a first-round QB.

Even if a young passer is added on Day 1 of the draft (or later), Mariota could be signed as competition or a veteran capable of handling QB1 duties while a rookie develops. As things stand, Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell are in place for the Raiders; the new regime led by Carroll and general manager John Spytek could very well make one or more changes to that room over the coming months, however.

Raiders Hire Greg Olson As QBs Coach

February 3rd, 2025 at 9:58pm CST by Ben Levine

The Raiders may not know who will be leading their QB depth chart in 2025, but the team now knows who will be coaching the position. According to Michael Silver of The Athletic, the Raiders have hired Greg Olson as their new quarterbacks coach.

This is a bit of a homecoming for Olson, who has already had two previous stints with the organization. He was Oakland’s offensive coordinator for the 2013 and 2014 campaigns, with the Raiders struggling in both seasons. After effectively finishing that latter year as the NFL’s worst offense, the Raiders fired Olson.

The coach later had a four-year stint as the Raiders offensive coordinator between 2018 and 2021. The team’s best season under Olson came during their first year in Las Vegas, when the Raiders ranked eighth in yards and 10th in points. Otherwise, the Raiders rarely ranked in the top-half of the league in either category during Olson’s stint, and he wasn’t kept on the staff once Josh McDaniels took over. The veteran coach spent a year with the Rams before spending the 2023 campaign as the Seahawks’ QBs coach.

Olson has a long resume that dates back to the late 1980s. He got his first OC job with the Lions in 2005, and he’s held that same title with the Rams, Buccaneers, and Jaguars. He’s only twice guided a definitive top-1o offense: that aforementioned Raiders unit in 2020, and the Steven Jackson-led Rams in 2006.

Still, he’s shown an ability to get more than expected from some unheralded QBs, and he may be faced with a similar situation in 2025. Working alongside new OC Chip Kelly, Olson could be asked to squeeze what he can out of an uncertain QB depth chart. The team could stick with incumbents like Aidan O’Connell and/or Gardner Minshew, and the Raiders have also been connected to vets (like Russell Wilson) and prospects (primarily Shedeur Sanders).

Raiders To Hire Brennan Carroll As OL Coach

February 3rd, 2025 at 3:59pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Raiders are hiring University of Washington offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll to be their offensive line coach and run-game coordinator, as first reported by Yogi Roth of the Big Ten Network and confirmed by ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.

Brennan Carroll is the son of Pete Carroll, the Raiders’ new head coach. Brennan previously coached under his father at USC and with the Seahawks, holding the titles of assistant offensive line coach (2015-2019) and run game coordinator (2020) in Seattle. He left the Seahawks to take over as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at the University of Arizona, where he stayed for three seasons before accepting a similar position with the Huskies.

Carroll’s departure will continue multiple offseasons of turnover for the Washington football program. In 2024, head coach Kalen DeBoer was tapped to replace Nick Saban at Alabama, while offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb took the same job with the Seahawks. The Huskies then hired Jedd Fisch away from Arizona to replace DeBoer. Fisch brought Carroll with him to Washington as OC and installed Steve Belichick as defensive coordinator. Interestingly, both Carroll and Belichick left the Huskies this year to take jobs on their father’s new staffs: Carroll in Las Vegas, and Belichick in North Carolina.

Huskies quarterbacks coach Jimmie Dougherty also received interest from multiple NFL teams in this hiring cycle, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, but he opted to take a promotion to offensive coordinator to stay in Washington.

In Las Vegas, Carroll will go to work improving on the NFL’s worst rushing attack in 2024. The Raiders finished with just 1,357 rushing yards and 3.6 yards per attempt, both league-lows by a significant margin. Getting more talent in the backfield beyond Alexander Mattison and Ameer Abdullah will be a priority this offseason, but the offensive line is in good shape. Kolton Miller put up another solid season at left tackle, while rookies Jackson Powers-Johnson and DJ Glaze emerged as reliable starters. The unit can still get better, but combined with Andre James and Dylan Parham, the Raiders have a decent starting five heading into next season, especially if they can further develop their younger linemen.

Raiders Hire Chip Kelly As OC

February 2nd, 2025 at 10:01pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

10:01pm: Kelly is leaving Columbus for a historic coordinator sum. As the team told candidates it was prepared to make a “serious” cash infusion with help from its new ownership pieces, SI.com’s Albert Breer reports Kelly will become the NFL’s highest-paid coordinator — on a salary of $6MM per year. This price triples what Kelly was earning at Ohio State, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler adds.

An AAV higher than $5MM has not previously been mentioned for coordinators, as the Buccaneers were prepared to venture toward the $4.5MM-per-year number to retain Liam Coen. Kelly has been out of the NFL for the past eight seasons; his return will bring a stunning salary.

4:36pm: The Raiders are continuing to add to new head coach Pete Carroll‘s staff, hiring longtime college and NFL coach Chip Kelly to be their next offensive coordinator, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Kelly recently won a national championship as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator after a six-year stint as UCLA’s head coach. His last NFL job was as head coach for the 49ers in 2016, though he lasted just one season after a 2-14 finish. Before that, he spent three years as the Eagles’ head coach.

Carroll seems to be prioritizing experience for his new staff. He already retained defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and is now adding the 61-year-old Kelly, who is entering his 35th season as a coach between the NFL and college levels. Kelly also was closely tied to the Raiders last year, when he interviewed twice to be Antonio Pierce‘s OC. Luke Getsy wound up with the job Kliff Kingsbury declined, but a Tom Brady-led housecleaning brought Kelly back into the Vegas mix.

The two veteran coaches have spent time as rivals, both in the Pac-12 and the NFC West. Kelly’s time at Oregon overlapped with Carroll’s tenure as USC’s head coach, and the two also coached against each other in 2016 when Carroll was the Seahawks’ head coach. The 49ers lost both games to the Seahawks in 2016, but Kelly’s Oregon squad upset Carroll’s No. 5 USC in 2009.

Kelly will have his work cut out for him in Las Vegas. The Raiders finished 27th in points and 29th in yards last season, due in no small part to an unstable quarterback situation and the midseason departure of Davante Adams. 2024 first-round pick Brock Bowers quickly established himself as one of the league’s best tight ends, but the rest of the Raiders offense lacks high-end talent.

Kelly’s first order of business will be finding a new quarterback. Gardner Minshew is still under contract for the 2025 season, but will be coming off a season-ending broken collarbone suffered in October. Even when healthy, though, Minshew struggled, making it clear that he is not the future of the franchise. With the second-most cap space in the NFL as well as the sixth overall pick in April’s draft, Las Vegas has the resources to substantially improve their quarterback situation this offseason.

Prior to this Kelly hire, it was looking like a Carroll-Darrell Bevell reunion was close. The Raiders had interviewed Carroll’s former Seahawks OC, and after an initial offering suggesting the veteran assistant was the lead candidate to end up as Las Vegas’ play-caller, a Saturday report did not disrupt that. Despite Kelly only being linked to the Jaguars and Texans in this year’s cycle, he will have a big opportunity to help Carroll’s Raiders stabilization effort take shape. Bevell remains on the Dolphins’ staff as quarterbacks coach.

Although Kelly flamed out in Philadelphia after an eventful 2015 in which Jeffrey Lurie gave him personnel power by demoting GM Howie Roseman, he posted two winning seasons with the team prior to that seminal setback. The Eagles won the NFC East in 2013, and they went 10-6 in 2014, doing so despite a season-ending Nick Foles injury. Kelly went 6-9 before being fired after Week 16 during the 2015 season. His immediate 49ers hire continued the NFC West franchise’s mid-2010s descent, and Kelly ended up at UCLA two years later.

OC interest formed for Kelly last year, but he opted to leave a head coaching post — as the NIL and transfer portal components have wreaked havoc on the college game — for a coordinator gig in Columbus. That turned out to pay dividends, as Ohio State stormed back from a Michigan loss to close the regular season en route to a national title.

Kelly’s move to the NFL from the Buckeyes will also stir speculation about the Raiders’ draft plans. Kelly may want to target some of his former players, especially on the offensive side of the ball. That list could include projected first-rounders offensive tackle Josh Simmons and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, as well as quarterback Will Howard and running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins on Day 2. Kelly will have significantly more information and familiarity – along with a proven track record of success – with those players than any other NFL team.

With Kelly hired, the Raiders can now fill out the rest of their offensive staff. He may want to bring some assistants with him from Ohio State, though some of the current coaches in Las Vegas could be retained as well.

Sam Robinson contributed to this post.

Raiders Rumors: Telesco, Davis, Brady, Pierce, Carroll, Belichick, Leonard

February 2nd, 2025 at 9:45pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

After a playoff win drought of more than 20 years, Raiders owner Mark Davis was hoping that adding Tom Brady to the ownership group would result in a transformative offseason.

Indeed, Brady was a key voice in the Raiders’ decisions to fire head coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco, as well as the team’s subsequent search processes to fill both positions, per The Athletic’s Tashan Reed. Las Vegas ultimately hired Pete Carroll as head coach and John Spytek as general manager, but Brady will continue to play a role in football operations.

Davis praised Pierce’s locker room leadership, but finishing in last place in the AFC West for the first time since 2018 was too much for the 46-year-old coach to overcome. “We just felt it was time for a change,” said Davis (via Reed).

Davis was satisfied with Telesco’s 2024 draft class, which featured star tight end Brock Bowers in the first round and starting offensive linemen Jackson Powers-Johnson and Delmar Glaze on Day 2. However, Davis hinted that he was disappointed with Telesco’s free agency signings in the offseason, which included a massive four-year, $110MM contract for defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.

Wilkins played in just five games with two sacks before suffering a Jones fracture in his foot that would require season-ending surgery. The Raiders’ other major signing, quarterback Gardner Minshew, similarly failed to live up to his two-year, $25MM deal. He posted a passer rating of 81.0 before a broken collarbone ended his season. Pierce had benched Minshew on multiple occasions prior to that injury, effectively ensuring the veteran QB would not be back in 2025.

The list goes on: Alexander Mattison (one year, $2MM) averaged just 3.2 yards per carry, while veteran offensive linemen Cody Whitehair (one year, $2.5MM) and Andrus Peat (one year, $2MM) combined for just four starts. Wide receiver signings Michael Gallup (one year, $1.75MM) and Jalen Guyton (one year, $1.29MM) were not on the team’s 53-man roster by the time the regular season started.

Telesco choosing Bowers, who went on to break Mike Ditka‘s 63-year-old record for rookie tight end yardage, only to be fired after one season does seem a bit hasty. At the time of the ouster, it was reported Brady and Davis decided to start fresh to align the team’s next HC and GM. Telesco has been fired twice in 13 months, after seeing a 63-21 Raiders demolition over the Chargers end his stay in Los Angeles. Telesco and Pierce butted heads on the quarterback issue, which effectively went unaddressed — as far as the big picture is concerned — much to the coach’s chagrin.

As Davis did in December, Carroll confirmed Brady will have a significant role in helping the Raiders identify a quarterback. Viewed by most as the greatest quarterback in NFL history, Brady is now operating in a historically unusual dual role — lead FOX announcer and Raiders part-owner/personnel exec. Brady, 47, is not leaving FOX after this season; the 23-year veteran QB will try to balance these roles moving forward.

“We happen to have the greatest of all time to help us,” Carroll said, via Reed and The Athletic colleague Vic Tafur. “And we’re going to lean on Tom as much as we possibly can. Because nobody has the insights that he has.”

Davis had eyed Brady to fill a football ops role after Jon Gruden “had his head chopped off,” referring to the latter’s forced resignation in light of the problematic emails that surfaced in 2021 as part of the NFL’s Dan Snyder investigation. Gruden remains embroiled in a lawsuit against the NFL, while Brady and ex-college teammate and Buccaneers coworker Spytek will work together to help rebuild the Raiders.

The Raiders were briefly connected to Bill Belichick to team with Brady, but those rumors did not get far off the ground. Belichick signed his North Carolina contract, and while the $10MM buyout is not believed to have proved to be much of an issue for NFL teams, six jobs are now gone. One going to Carroll, who is seven months older than Belichick, may not be sitting too well with an eight-time Super Bowl winner who passed on a second NFL carousel ride to preemptively enter the college ranks. Talk in NFL circles pointed to Belichick not being pleased about the Raiders hiring Carroll, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio writes.

While the Raiders moving the bar for oldest head coach ever hired (by seven years) could reopen the door for Belichick, his passing on an aggressive NFL push now will still make matters difficult if he decides to do so in 2026. Belichick would turn 74 before Week 1 of the ’26 season. Carroll is in place as a short-term Raiders fix; it will be interesting to see how Belichick fares in a similar role in Chapel Hill.

Carroll already retained Patrick Graham as DC, and he will keep Rob Leonard in place as D-line coach, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo adds. The Raiders interviewed Leonard for the DC post, and they are adding an additional title — that of run-game coordinator — to his duties for the 2025 season. Leonard has previously coached with the Giants, Dolphins and Ravens.

Sam Robinson contributed to this post

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