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Ed Graney: Raiders must move on from Pete Carroll after this season

Ed Graney, Las Vegas Review-Journal on

Published in Football

LAS VEGAS — This was coach Pete Carroll as the Raiders were about to open training camp:

“We are going to win a bunch of games,” he said. “I can’t even imagine anything else. I’ve been winning 10 games a year for 20 years or something. I mean, what are my expectations? We are going to win a bunch, and I don’t care who hears that.

“It ain’t about what anybody hears. It’s about what we do, and so that’s why expectations are really high. The standards need to be so that the expectations can be met. We’ll see what happens.”

We now know what has happened. The Raiders are 2-11 entering Sunday’s game at Philadelphia.

They have lost 11 of 12.

Which means the Raiders should move on from Carroll at season’s end. And not just because of the record.

Not at all.

Need a total rebuild

The team has four games remaining, and Carroll has been sure — for some time now — that his team is close to turning some sort of corner.

It’s probably not going to happen in the form of wins. Of those four games, the Raiders will be underdogs in at least three of them. They might be favored when they host the Giants, also 2-11, on Dec. 28.

That game could be the most significant of all four, with perhaps the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft at stake.

This has far more to do with the future. What the Raiders should desire most is to begin a desperately needed rebuilding process. They just never have.

You can start with a franchise quarterback. The Raiders traded for veteran Geno Smith to reunite with Carroll, but it hasn’t worked out.

They need to secure a high pick so they can draft and develop that quarterback.

Which is where the coaching part comes in.

If the Raiders indeed get their quarterback, a young offensive-minded coach who can show mutual growth with the player would be ideal.

 

It’s why Sean McVay was brought in at age 30 in 2017 to help a then-young but struggling Jared Goff and to turn around the Rams’ offense.

It’s why Ben Johnson was hired as the Bears’ coach, to tutor Caleb Williams. It’s why Dave Canales was picked to lead the Panthers and Bryce Young. It’s why Liam Coen is now the Jaguars’ coach and teaching Trevor Lawrence.

Sure. The Raiders had Josh McDaniels. But he’s obviously more suited for a coordinator’s role.

All have had varying levels of success, but you get the idea: This is the NFL in 2025. This is the route the Raiders should follow.

Yes. It’s another change. After another and after another and so on.

But this would be the best path to travel long term.

Maybe it would be a mutual decision. Maybe things go so bad this season that Carroll and the organization come to a decision that change is needed.

Probably not. Someone who preaches compete as much as Carroll doesn’t simply walk away from a challenge. And this is a major one.

Offense needs fixing

Carroll is correct. He’s a winner. Has been for a long time. Won two national championships at USC. Directed the Seahawks to two Super Bowls, winning one. Won nearly 61% of his games in Seattle. One (really) bad season with the Raiders isn’t going to overly tarnish his legacy, if at all.

That doesn’t mean, however, a reset for the Raiders would be a bad move.

They need to fix this offense. Carroll and former coordinator Chip Kelly obviously didn’t see eye to eye — you don’t fire someone midseason if that’s not the case — and nothing has changed since that move.

They haven’t won as Carroll predicted. Whether that’s because he overestimated his team’s talent or his ability to get more out of less is unknown.

This is known: The Raiders are 2-11 entering Sunday’s game at Philadelphia.

Not much has been successful.


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