NFL insider Jordan Schultz is reporting that coach Pete Carroll will be one-and-done with the Las Vegas Raiders, with Schultz saying that Carroll will either be fired or announce his retirement, presumably after the Raiders final game of the season against the Kansas City Chiefs tomorrow.
This isn’t surprising at all, of course. It’s been rumored for weeks now, but Carroll has been allowed to make weekly comments that hint at his being able to keep his job, even as the losses keep mounting. The Raiders have currently lost ten straight, with their last win coming against the Tennessee Titans back in Week 6. Presumably it’s been made clear to Carroll that a loss to the Chiefs tomorrow is imperative so that the Raiders can maintain their hold on the number one pick in the 2026 draft.
There were a couple of parts of this report that were surprising, however. According to Schultz, the Raiders coaching search will cast a wide net, and minority owner and Fox analyst Tom Brady will be involved.
The “wide net” part is surprising for a couple of reasons. First is the rumor that’s been making the rounds for a couple of weeks that owner Mark Davis wants to hire former coach Jon Gruden, who’s reportedly interested in coaching again.
It would also be surprising if that wide net includes college coaches, who have fallen out of favor in the NFL lately. The latest rumor has Curt Cignetti of the Indiana Hoosiers available at an annual price tag of $13 million a year, although it would be shocking to see the Raiders go in that direction.
What seems far more likely is that the Raiders explore one of the younger hot coordinators in the hopes that they can find the next version of Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson. Assuming the Raiders lose tomorrow, Las Vegas may use the number one pick in the draft to take a quarterback, most likely Fernando Mendoza of Indiana or Dante Moore of Oregon, and find the right coach to develop him.
The other part of this report that’s surprising is the mentioning of Brady. He was supposedly on board with hiring Carroll, trading for for quarterback Geno Smith and adding offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, but all three of those moves have been disastrous. It’s been speculated that Brady no longer has Davis’s ear when it comes to important moves going forward, but apparently that’s not the case at all.