Pete Carroll is 74 years old. He won a Super Bowl a decade ago. He had one year left to prove he could still do this at the highest level. And somehow, the Las Vegas Raiders thought this was a good idea.
The Raiders fired Carroll on Monday morning after a 3-14 season—the worst in franchise history—and honestly, nobody should be surprised. This marriage was doomed from the altar.
A disaster written in advance
When Mark Davis and minority owner Tom Brady handed Carroll a three-year contract last January, the logic seemed sound on paper. Here was a proven winner, a Super Bowl champion, a culture builder who'd turned Seattle into a powerhouse for over a decade. Never mind that he was the oldest head coach in NFL history. Never mind that his Seahawks tenure ended with declining returns and a messy separation. The Raiders were desperate, and desperate teams make desperate decisions.
The reality? Carroll's energy—that famous boundless optimism, the gum-chewing enthusiasm—couldn't mask an organization in freefall. After beating New England in Week 1, the Raiders lost 14 of their final 16 games. They scored the fewest points in the NFL. They gained the fewest yards. The offense was so dysfunctional that Carroll fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly in late November—just months after making him the highest-paid coordinator in the league.
Geno Smith, Carroll's handpicked quarterback, threw 17 interceptions to lead the NFL. The much-hyped sixth overall pick Ashton Jeanty ran behind an offensive line that couldn't block a turnstile. By December, the Raiders had become appointment television for all the wrong reasons.
What went wrong
The answer is simpler than the talking heads want to admit: there was no alignment. Carroll wanted to win now. The roster said rebuild. Those two things don't coexist.
Sources told The Athletic there was "a lack of cohesion in the coaching offices," with visible tension between Carroll and Kelly. When your head coach and offensive coordinator aren't on the same page, you get what the Raiders got: a team that looked confused on every snap.
Then there's the Maxx Crosby situation. The Pro Bowl edge rusher was shut down for the season before Week 17—a decision Crosby reportedly "vehemently disagreed with." When your best defensive player is fighting with the coaching staff about whether he should even play, you've lost the locker room.
What comes next
The Raiders now hold the No. 1 overall pick in April's draft. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza—this year's Heisman Trophy winner—is the consensus top selection. Tom Brady and GM John Spytek will lead the coaching search, which feels like either the beginning of something coherent or another chapter of dysfunction. With Brady, you never quite know.
As for Carroll, this could be it. He started his NFL head coaching career getting fired after one season with the Jets in 1994. He ends it getting fired after one season with the Raiders in 2026. There's a certain poetry to that, even if it's the sad kind.
The man won a Super Bowl. He built something real in Seattle. But football moved on, and Carroll couldn't keep up. That's not an insult—it's just time. It catches everyone eventually.
The Raiders, meanwhile, will be looking for their sixth head coach since 2021. The franchise that once meant Al Davis and commitment to excellence now means chaos and commitment to nothing at all.