The Pete Carroll era is over in Las Vegas, but information around what went wrong for the legendary head in his one year with the Raiders continues to trickle in.
All eyes were on the Raiders’ offense in 2025, but the defense under Carroll and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham wasn’t much better. It was obvious from the outside that Carroll wasn’t happy with Chip Kelly as his offensive coordinator, but it sounds like the alignment was no better on the defensive side.
In December, the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore made an interesting statement on his podcast, saying that he had been warned that Carroll and Graham weren’t going to be a great fit.
“There [were] people reaching out to me yesterday that know football, that watch football and have been watching this team. It’s clear that there is a lack of an alignment between what Pete Carroll wants to do defensively, what Patrick Graham wants to do defensively,” Bonsignore said on the Vegas Nation First and 10 podcast in the final month of the season.
“It’s been happening all year. I was told at the very beginning of the year, before when Pat was retained, keep an eye on that because they do things completely different. Their systems are completely different.”
But according to Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter, the defensive situation in Las Vegas was so dysfunctional last year that Graham was only able to run his defensive scheme for six quarters – and that only happened because he ignored the head coach.
“Not long after the team’s OTAs started, Carroll, many believe, frustrated by being ignored on offense, started to alter what he wanted from Graham. Graham desperately tried to explain to Carroll that wanting to do something and actually doing it were two different things,” Carpenter reported on Monday.
“A Raiders player called [and] what he had to say was not good news for an imploding Raiders team. What is up with Pete? I love the man, but he can’t hold anybody accountable and that ‘golly-gee we’ll get them next week’ pep talks are f—ked up. I think he only wanted PG [Patrick Graham] back so he could resign Maxx [Crosby], because PG ain’t doing what PG do, and when he says f—k it, it works.”
“While fans berated Graham, ever the gentleman, he refused to call out Carroll and, as a previously mentioned member of the organization, said to me again, “Everybody has a boss.” I had reported earlier that I didn’t expect Graham back, and that was the reason why. In a never-before-released detail, I can tell you that Patrick Graham essentially ignored Carroll and ran his defense for a grand total of six halves in 2025. That is an accumulative total of three games, and in those six halves, his Silver & Black defense allowed only nine points.”
Looking back, there was a detail reported before the start of the 2025 season that was a little more ominous than what it seemed at the time.
Despite Graham having success calling plays from the booth in 2024, Carroll wanted Graham on the field last year and it was a decision that perplexed Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers at the time.
“I’m interested to see what Patrick Graham looks like coaching from the field as opposed to the booth. I liked him in the booth, getting that All-22 view,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders podcast in September.
“But Coach Carroll said he liked him on the field. He likes to be able to communicate with him. He likes him to be able to look into the players eyes and talk to them and get the energy of the game as well. So we’ll see how that plays out.”
As it turns out, it sounds like Carroll might have wanted Graham on the sideline so he could run the defense himself.
x: @raidersbeat
First of all I don’t believe what you’re saying. What about those other years when Pete Carroll wasn’t there and the defense under PAtrick Graham stunk the joint up? He doesn’t know what he’s doing. I’m glad they blew him out.
Graham is so overrated. He was out coached almost every second half in games. He stayed with guys that were repeatedly targeted and liabilities. And refused to blitz until it was too late to matter.
Yeah,Yeah,
PG didn’t draft, wasnt responsible for 3 and outs all game long for all those years. You guys don’t get it. Steelers will love him.
I’ll make sure to remind you. But you’ll likely find another excuse for him. 14th means nothing. Counter adjustments in games mean something. And before you shoot at personnel, CHANGE when your exposed and exploited is high school level coaching.
Let’s start where you said the defense wasn’t much better than the offense. Offense was ranked dead last and the defense was ranked 14th in total defense.