The Las Vegas Raiders are 2-12 as they head into their Week 16 matchup against the Houston Texans on the road.
Las Vegas has lost 12 of their last 13 games after opening the season with a win over the New England Patriots. This season hasn’t gone anything like head coach Pete Carroll aspired for, which was to turn this team into a playoff contender in year one of his tenure.
Not only have the Raiders been eliminated from playoff contention for several weeks, but Carroll’s job isn’t safe. Many around the league believe Carroll could be a one-and-done given the state of the team and his age, and if he were to be let go from his position, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell believes the potential opening would be the worst situation in the National Football League.
“Welp. We're back again for another go-around in Las Vegas, where the Raiders enjoy a fervent fan base and zero income tax for potential free agents -- and somehow seem further from winning than ever before,” Barnwell wrote Thursday. “I was optimistic about the gambit of adding Pete Carroll, Chip Kelly and Geno Smith this offseason, but Kelly has already been fired, Smith has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the league this year and Carroll has been unable to stamp any sort of competence on one of the league's worst teams.
“Nobody's going to do it overnight, and given the short leash Davis has had for recent coaches, this isn't going to be a very appealing opportunity for coaches who have other options elsewhere. We've seen teams like the 49ers (with Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch) and Lions (with Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes) offer new hires six-year contracts to prove that they'll get the time to rebuild the roster. It's unclear whether John Spytek will stick around as general manager in Vegas if the Raiders do clean house yet again, but the Raiders are going to need to offer their new coach proof that he'll get more than two years to build a team that will win in the long term.”
The Raiders aren’t known for sticking with coaches long-term, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see general manager John Spytek keeps him around for longer than this season. A head coach needs time to succeed, especially when they come to a team that needs so much before becoming a contender.
“I'll say the same thing I've been saying for more than half a decade now: The only way the Raiders are going to turn things around is by hiring the right coach and the right talent evaluator and letting them spend years fixing the roster,” Barnwell wrote. “This organization needs to stack drafts before it can credibly compete in the long term with the Broncos, Chargers and Chiefs, let alone the rest of the AFC. Davis has shown little aptitude for hiring those people and little patience in letting them work, which makes this a difficult opportunity to recommend.”
Given that the leading candidates to take over head coaching next year are defensive-minded, I expect the Raiders to pursue a coach like Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in the offseason to emphasize the defensive side of the football.