Silver And Black Pride
Pete Carroll wants a Year 2 as Las Vegas Raiders head coach.
The 74-year-old lead man remains steadfast in his belief he’s the right person to chart a better course for the Silver & Black.
“No, I don’t feel like that at all,” Carroll said during his Monday media availability when broached with does he like he’s coaching for his job. “I really don’t. I’m well beyond that. I don’t feel like that.”
“Well, it’s looking like that’s what’s necessary,” Carroll answered when asked the follow up question of he’d be willing to oversee a rebuild. “We need to keep working to get better, and that’s in all areas, all aspects of what we’re doing. I came in here thinking that we were going to turn it right away. I really did and anticipated doing that, and that’s not what’s taking place unfortunately.”
Carroll went on to speak about the frustrations the entire team has. He explained he’s “blindly optimistic” and that winning from the jump wasn’t delusions of grandeur. But Carroll noted his work is just getting started.
Good on Carroll for being firm in his beliefs and wanting to return and finish the job.
But that’s not course the Raiders should chart when this 2025 campaign comes to a welcome end. Las Vegas must hit the reset button — again.
This version of Carroll we saw during Monday’s foray is quite the far cry from the boisterous claims of winning a lot of games he made way back in July. And the normally jovial and animated head coach was much more subdued as he stews in the reality of his football team.
But the somber body language and tone is proper from the Raiders lead man.
Because Carroll has a big hand in running the Raiders aground this season.
Las Vegas is 2-12 on the season and are dead last in points scored (196 for an average of 14.0 points per contest) and 25th out of the 32 teams in points allowed (363 for an average of 25.9 points given up per tilt). Carroll’s crew suffered two shutout defeats (twin 31-0 drubbings) with the most recent one this past Sunday. Sprinkled in between all that is the fact Las Vegas is last in third-down defense (opponent’s convert 90 of their 184 attempts for a 48.9 conversion rate) and 28th in third-down offense (converting just 59 of 170 attempts for a paltry 34.7 percent sum).
It’s a trying 2025 campaign where Carroll waxed two of his assistant coaches — first, holdover and special teams coordinator Tom McMahon followed by offensive coordinator Chip Kelly — while his football team plays unprepared, unable to execute, and getting steamrolled by the opposition. Brought in to change the identity and harp on the fundamentals of the game, all Carroll has done is reinforced the Silver & Black calling card of being a get-right game for teams going through their own distinct trails and tribulations. And that 31-0 shellacking at the...
