It’s been well documented over the last few months that Pete Carroll and the Raiders’ front office were not on the same page this season.
It’s also true that Chip Kelly, who was hired by the Raiders’ front office, was not on the same page as Carroll during their 11 games together this season.
Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers talked this week about the moment he realized there was a situation going on behind the scenes between the head coach and offensive coordinator.
“If they had all had the same vision, the same plan and timeline, I think that Pete Carroll could have stuck around. But clearly, and it was pretty clear early on, I think it was what, week four, week five, we started realizing like, hold on, man, what looked like it could be something good, there’s trouble in paradise,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders Squad Show podcast.
“This is not exactly what it’s supposed to look like, and I keep going back to when I asked Pete Carroll at the press conference,” Myers continued.
“I will never forget what he said and the way he said it when I asked him about getting Geno Smith comfortable in this Chip Kelly offense. I said, ‘What has to happen for Geno to get comfortable?’” And he looked at me, kind of give me a little side-eye and said, ‘Now he ain’t calling the plays now.’ When he said it like that, that will always ring in my head. I will never forget that look and the way he said it, and that was a direct message to Chip Kelly. Like, ‘Hey man, what Geno is doing up there is what Chip is calling. It’s not what we want to do as a team.’”
“That’s what I took from it. They were never on the same page and that was the biggest disconnect. And that’s why the move was necessary.”
For what it’s worth, it appears the comment Myers was referring to came after the Raiders’ week 5 loss to the Colts.
Carroll asked during a media session later in the week about getting Smith more comfortable, and you can see the ‘side eye’ as he glances over to his left.
x: @raidersbeat
I personally knew this particular situation was FUBAR as soon as Mark gave Tom the keys to the kingdom. 1st they “try” getting Ben Johnson and didn’t even make an offer because 2nd Tom’s thinking is let’s get the worst HC candidate and terrible NFL OC and pay them what we should’ve at least offered Ben. And 3rd Tom decides he needs an old friend as the GM. And at last they decide to once again keep the pathetic DC and ST coaches. The biggest question after those things were in place was who blames who first and so on and so on.
Then the Raiders eventually fired Kelly, Olson took over and Geno thrived, with everyone living happily ever after….
Another reason Carroll had to go. A complete lack of accountability. AP had the same issue. It’s hard to be a leader when you’re always making excuses to deflect criticism.