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Pete Carroll’s stint with the Las Vegas Raiders has come to an abrupt end.
The team cut ties with the 74-year-old coach Monday following a dismal 3-14 season that concluded with Sunday’s 14-12 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Before that win, the Raiders had dropped 10 straight games and had already secured the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
Owner Mark Davis announced that GM John Spytek will now lead football operations alongside minority owner Tom Brady as they hunt for the next head coach.
“Together they will guide football decisions with a shared focus on leadership, culture, and alignment with the organization’s long-term vision and goals,” Davis said in a statement.
The Raiders are now searching for their sixth head coach since 2021 – a staggering amount of turnover that highlights the organization’s instability. Jon Gruden (2018-21) was the last coach to last more than a single season with the Silver and Black.
Spytek isn’t looking for quick fixes.
“We’re looking for someone to build this the right way and not think we’ve got to produce 10 wins or whatever next year,” he explained. “It’d be great to do, when we see teams like the Patriots, [Jaguars] and Bears flip it. I’ve always had a thought that you’re never as good in this league as you think you are, and you’re never as far away as you think you are. And we’re just going to go open-minded.”
Carroll hasn’t been fired after just one season since 1994 with the New York Jets, where he went 6-10.
The Raiders brought Carroll in last January on a three-year deal (with a fourth-year option) following his 14-year run with the Seattle Seahawks. His championship pedigree – one of only three coaches to win both a Super Bowl and college national title – seemed like the perfect match for a franchise desperate to establish a winning culture after going 4-13 under Antonio Pierce.
Vegas went all-in.
They tried jumpstarting Carroll’s rebuild by hiring offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, trading for QB Geno Smith, and drafting running back Ashton Jeanty sixth overall in the 2025 draft. After an opening win in New England, everything fell apart when they lost to Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers in Week 2.
The results were brutal.
The Raiders lost nine games by double digits and scored fewer than 10 points five times. Their 1-5 record against AFC West rivals highlighted their competitive gap within the division.
Smith’s performance was particularly disappointing – throwing for 3,025 yards with 19 touchdowns but a league-worst 17 interceptions. Spytek didn’t commit fully to Smith’s future but noted: “Geno is under contract for next year. We did that because when we traded for him, we liked him. I’m not going to get too far into the future right now, I’m day by day, but he’s one of the guys that’s under contract, he’s a quarterback, he played some good football this year, and we’ll make those decisions going forward.”
Las Vegas ranked dead last in nearly every offensive category, including rushing yards per game (77.5). The defense didn’t fare much better, finishing 25th in points allowed (25.4) as Carroll and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham struggled to implement a consistent system.
Carroll, known for his loyalty in Seattle where he never fired a coach mid-season, took drastic measures in November by firing both special teams coordinator Tom McMahon and offensive coordinator Kelly within a 16-day span.
Spytek remains optimistic despite the setbacks. “I think we have a great opportunity to build this franchise the right way now. We never want to be in this spot again. I never thought I would be in the spot, but we’ve got to be real with where we’re at,” he said. “We have to understand the opportunity that we have in front of us, and our focus and our vision is on everything going forward now.”
