Silver And Black Pride
There are a lot of reasons why the Las Vegas Raiders should, and, very well, will fire coach Pete Carroll after just one awful season.
But a primary reason why the Raiders should dump Carroll and reset, once again, is a relative lack of competition for the top head-coaching candidates when the hiring cycle begins in just a couple of weeks.
There were media reports in recent days that stated both Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel and Cincinnati Bengals’ coach Zac Taylor will be safe and will return to their respective clubs in 2026. They were both considered to be on the hot seat.
So, with those two coaches expected to be off the chopping block, there is a chance there will be a relatively small group of head-coaching openings.
Thus, if the Raiders move away from Carroll, they will have competition for coaches and could benefit by that, by perhaps getting a higher-coveted coach than they might have gotten had their been more openings and more competition.
When the Raiders focused Antonio Pierce in 2024, there will eight openings. In 2025, when they settled on Carroll after not attracting top candidates Ben Johnson and Mike Vrabel, there will seven openings.
How many openings will there be in this hiring cycle?
In addition to Carroll, Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris, Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon are all reportedly on the hot seat as well. Of course, there have already been two coaches fired, Brian Daboll of the New York Giants and Brian Callahan of the Tennessee Titans.
There could also be some surprise firing as usual. But, in the end, it wouldn’t be a surprise if there is less openings them year than the last two teams the Raiders made a coaching change.
It will help the Raiders’ process? Time will tell, but it can’t hurt.
