The firing of Chip Kelly as the Raiders’ offensive coordinator precipitated eyebrow-raising reports from NFL Network insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.
Prepare to read between the lines.
Pelissero, speaking on the Rich Eisen Show, said Kelly botched play calls and even called plays not in the game plan.
Rapoport, following up on NFL.com, said Carroll forced Kelly to call a version of Carroll’s Seattle offense.
This has all the hallmarks of organizational dysfunction.
When Carroll took the Seattle job in 2010, he had leverage to hire his own staff without interference.
When Carroll took the Las Vegas job in 2025, he was desperate for an NFL return. Carroll was able to hire his sons, but when he did not hire coordinators from his past, such as Darrell Bevell and Gus Bradley, it showed that others influenced the decisions.
Carroll surely respects Kelly and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, but he had no history with either. In a league where time is of the essence, especially for a 74-year-old head coach, why would Carroll sign up for molding veteran coaches to the methods he has spent five decades honing?
“When you agree to the staff that you agree to and the wins do not come, that does not become a bargaining chip to get it the way you want,” an exec from another team said.
The defense has improved, but Graham, like Kelly, is calling plays the way Carroll would call them. That includes playing base defense a majority of the time (former Seahawks safety Jamal Adams is listed as a linebacker for the Raiders, accounting for more than half of the increase in this area), a huge shift from what Graham did as defensive play caller with the Giants, Dolphins and 2024 Raiders. Graham is playing more single-high safety defense and less man coverage, especially on third down. He’s playing more Cover 3 and is blitzing less frequently.
The Raiders lost 31-14 to the Chargers in Los Angeles on Sunday, their fifth loss this season by 17 or more points, tied with the Titans for most in the league. The Athletic’s projection model gives them a 19 percent chance at picking first in the 2026 draft, second behind Tennessee (56 percent).
Carroll might try to use this lost Raiders season to argue he needs full control over staff hiring to implement his program (he previously fired special teams coach Tom McMahon). Owner Mark Davis, minority owner Tom Brady and any other stakeholders will have to decide whether that beats moving in another direction entirely. It could be a tough sell.
“The idea was, Pete was going to come in and make them a playoff team with a veteran quarterback,” the exec added. “It will now be up to the GM to go through a head-coaching search, in my opinion.”
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