Silver And Black Pride
Pete Carroll wasn’t the lone reason for the Las Vegas Raiders’ failures this season.
General manager John Spytek — the other half of the new era duo the team brought in just this past offseason — remains while Carroll was dismissed on Monday. And during Spytek’s media session that afternoon, took on the brunt of the blame for the Silver & Black’s horrendous 3-14 record in 2025.
“I want to thank Coach Carroll from the ownership perspective and from my personal perspective as well. He was a great partner. In my first year in this job, he worked tirelessly to give Raider Nation the team and the outcomes and the results that they wanted and deserve,” Spytek said at the onset of his opening statement. “I also want to make it extremely clear, too, that I bear a ton of responsibility for the outcome of the season and our record. This isn’t on any one person, and really, I don’t want anyone to think that anyone deserves more responsibility than me and that it’s something I’m very aware of, I think about all the time, and am determined to get right. The accountability should start and stop with me, and that needs to be said.”
Spytek is right that he bears responsibility for an awful 2025 campaign. And he’ll get an opportunity to make amends as owner Mark Davis said in a statement Monday, Spytek “will lead all football operations in close collaboration with Tom Brady, including the search for the club’s next head coach.”
Not so much for Carroll who is one-and-done. Not all the blame lies on the former head coach, but an ineffective offense — namely the offensive line —, the lopsided losses, and lack of identity falls on Carroll’s shoulders.
Those are the three things that scuttled his tenure as Raiders’ boss.
Las Vegas’ offensive line play was so bad at times, you didn’t have to be a student of the game to notice. Even those with rudimentary football knowledge could see it plain as day.
And as soon as Carroll’s firing was announced, one his biggest mistakes was under spotlight: Hiring his son Brennan as offensive line coach and run game coordinator.
While Carroll made both lineup changes with the depth chart and even dismissing assistant coaches — special teams boss Tom McMahon was first to go, then offensive coordinator Chip Kelly — the lack of adjustments in the trench left quite a stench. From apparent lack of details from Brennan Carroll to the Raiders offense floundering due to the play up front, Pete’s decision looks like the worst kind of nepotism/production hire in all the NFL this season.
Point to injuries sinking the Raiders ship all you want, but playing linemen out of position and having second-year lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson jump through hoops in the com-Pete mantra while others didn’t have to go through similar rigorous circumstances was suspect.
ESPN’s piece on the [Raiders’ 2025 collapse dropped even...
