Former Raiders Great Shares Rumor on Chilly Relationship Between Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly

It’s been just over a week since the Raiders fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, and it seems like each day we learn a little more about why the coaching dynamic between Kelly and Pete Carroll didn’t work.

It has been reported that Carroll sabotaged Kelly’s offense, and it has been reported that Kelly had full autonomy over the offense.

It has also been reported that Kelly botched play calls and confused his own players, including his quarterback.

On Monday, former Raider great Lincoln Kennedy dropped a potentially new detail around the innerworkings of the organization, specifically involving the interactions of Kelly and Carroll – or in this case, the lack thereof.

“I heard grumblings that Chip Kelly and Pete Carroll didn’t talk in the facility, which is unheard of,” Kennedy said on the Locked on Raiders Squad Show podcast.

“I saw Pete Carroll working with Patrick Graham on the defense. I’ve seen what adjustments they made to the defense, but the defense still has struggles… getting off the field… Sometimes the defense looks lights out, sometimes they look, oh my gosh, just gave up that long run. What the hell happened? And all that stuff that happens that comes with it.”

“It is what it is, but you just got to know who’s running the show. And I don’t even know if the players in that locker room want to admit who’s running the show, if they do know.”

If Kennedy’s information is good, there are couple of important takeaways that can be made.

How would Carroll have sabotaged Kelly’s offense if the two were not in regular communication?

If Carroll was too involved in the offense, there would have to be communication similar to what we saw between Carroll and Graham.

And maybe the biggest statement or suggestion Kennedy seemed to make was in regard to who is “running the show” in Las Vegas.

Kennedy said he wasn’t sure if the players in the locker room want to “admit” who is running the show.

Sometimes words don’t come across the way they are intended on radio shows and podcasts, but it seemed like Kennedy might have been referring to the Tom Brady dynamic in the building, or it’s possible he was referencing some of what former team CEO Amy Trask said two weeks ago.

“There are, of course, on field problems, but there are also a lot of problems off the field behind the scenes,” Trask said on CBS Sports HQ 11 days ago.

“Many people assume when I say ‘behind the scenes’ that I’m referring to Tom Brady, but I’m not. The individual who orchestrated Tom’s purchase in the Raiders of the limited partnership interest in the Raiders, Jim Gray, has been working to orchestrate the purchase of an interest in the Raiders since Al [Davis] was alive and we were in the process of selling a minority interest in the team,” Trask continued.

“Well, he finally orchestrated the purchase and now he is involved in every aspect, or almost every aspect, of the organization. This is having an impact on the organization, not only off the field, but on the field. Pete Carroll is a very good head coach, but the problems we’re seeing on the field are related to the problems that are rampant throughout the organization. They’ve got to fix the off-field behind the scenes issues in order to give Pete a chance to be his best.”

There hasn’t been a lot of talk about Trask’s comments since she made them, but the question of who is really running the Raiders is one that no one seems to be willing or able to answer.

Even going back to the beginning of the season, there has been a delicate approach to reporting on Brady’s role with the Raiders.

After the second week of the season, an NFL Network report said Kelly and Brady had been working together on gameplans, and rather than adjust or correct the story, the NFL simply took down the post.

Why take it down and was the story not adjusted because it was true?

Also, it’s worth keeping in mind that the source to the NFL Network report was most likely Kelly, himself.

Brady has worked hard in the last 13 months to avoid the perception that he is an influential figure in the Raiders’ organization, but it feels like his role is becoming increasingly more obvious.

In reality, most Raider fans want Brady to be involved… they just want him to do a better job than what he did in his first year with the team.

x: @raidersbeat

RAIDERS SQUAD SHOW: Las Vegas RAIDERS vs Los Angeles CHARGERS RECAP | What went wrong?

In this episode of The Raiders Squad Show, we break down the Raiders’ tough loss to the Chargers, including the biggest takeaways, whether Greg Olson’s offense looked better than Chip Kelly’s, and why the team continues to struggle on third down.