The Raiders laid their miserable 2025 season to rest on Sunday and the stories around what went wrong have already hit the ground running.
One of the more interesting accounts on Tuesday came from ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler and Ryan McFadden, who shared some fascinating details about what went wrong with the offensive line this year.
Pete Carroll’s decision to hire his son as the offensive line coach was one of his worst moves of the season, and it sounds like the players were very much underwhelmed by what Brennan Carroll was able to offer the team this year.
From Kahler and McFadden in their ESPN deep dive piece on the Raiders 2025 season…
“An agent of a Raiders offensive lineman said that his client told him the position group met multiple times on their own with Smith and Jeanty, and specifically without coaches, so the quarterback and running back could talk to them about how they wanted the offensive line to create blocks.
‘It was that bad,’ the agent told ESPN. ‘They were meeting on their own and trying to figure it out together, which I have never heard of in my history of working in this league.’
‘There is some sort of nepotism going on,’ a fourth agent of a Raiders player said.
The agent also said his client said that Brennan Carroll rushed players through individual drills at practice and didn’t teach them what they were trying to achieve in specific drills.”
“Right tackle DJ Glaze and rookie tackle Charles Grant confirmed that the offensive line met with Smith and Jeanty at least twice a week since OTAs without the coaching staff involved but said it was to develop chemistry among each other.
‘It’s only so much you can do with your coaches throughout the day,’ Glaze told ESPN. ‘So we would just get together to go over different things, get a little bit more chemistry and understanding each position during the week.’
Glaze told ESPN there were times when the unit didn’t know who was starting until the Saturday before a game because the coaching staff wanted to see how the competition played out during the week and whether a player would be available due to injury.
‘This offensive line coach is the biggest issue with this team,’ said the agent of a Raiders offensive lineman in December. ‘Everybody knows and nobody talks about it because it’s Pete’s son. Everyone talks about it behind the scenes, no one talks about it publicly.’
‘Just like anything, you know where issues are,’ a team source said. ‘Guys stay pretty professional. Some stuff is like an elephant in the room, but guys keep a poker face [and] keep on working.’
When asked about Brennan Carroll and his communication, several Raiders offensive linemen deflected from pointing fingers at their coach, and instead told ESPN that injuries complicated their performance.”
Looking back, Carroll’s 2025 coaching staff might have been one of the worst assembled coaching staffs in recent memory – even including the 31 other teams.
Carroll essentially hijacked Patrick Graham’s defense and it sounds like Chip Kelly was running the offense this year with input from every direction.
Carroll clearly wasn’t happy with Kelly from the start, and the added dynamic of Kelly working with Carroll’s son, who doubled as the Raiders’ run game coordinator, seemed to turn a messy situation into an abject disaster.
Tom Brady played a role in the chaos, as well, as some believe Kelly answered directly to Brady about the offense and GM John Spytek was apparently the no. 3 man in charge behind Carroll and Brady.
The Raiders will have a new coach in the next few weeks, and it’s going to be interesting to see how the coaching staff comes together and whether Brady will look to hire more people in the building that are comfortable with him dictating from a distance.
There have been countless calls for Brady to dedicate more of his time to running the team, but based on Spytek’s comments on Monday, it doesn’t sound like the seven-time Super Bowl champion will be adjusting his role anytime soon.
For that reason and others, look for Brady to settle on a head coach he knows a little better than he knew Carroll going into the 2025 season.
Brian Flores has been floated as a possible candidate and that would be a scenario that probably make sense for Brady – even though Flores would come with major risks of his own.
x: @raidersbeat
Since 2002 the Raiders have had 14 head coaches and three playoff games. And now we are getting ready to hire HC #15. Twenty three years down the tubes. This isn’t a pro football organization, it’s a clown show in a dumpster fire. Does ANYONE have reason to believe that next season will be any different? The Raiders organization has taken Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity to heart – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Bottom line is Carroll was a consolation prize because the organization thought they had B. JOHNSON, which was Brady’s #1. After that debacle, it was fill it quick before the draft. It has been a tough 23yrs for raiders fans with exception of Carr’s almost mvp year before Del Rio left him in a pointless game with a massive q4 lead. Raiders will be Raiders until Mark Davis removes himself completely from any and all decisions
So the players needed to vent and no one in the organizing could help them and the have to try and make it work on their own why not fired the coaches sons to get rid of the problem? Hope the two sons r one and done get real raiders or iam going walk Bern watching this **** show since 1982 enough
Thank God they’re gone Carol and company now it’s time to take a deep dive into these coaches that are available and make the right choice for once you don’t need to rush into it, but you do not want to wait until the very last minute to get it done like you did last year when all the good coaches were gone your number one pick better be a QB Mendoza a rare Nation will blow up cuz we’re mad as hell at the circus we have been watching
When u have an owner that lacks even the basic sense, this is the end result. Like i’ve been posting since last offseason, Brady isn’t qualified to build the team he’s learning on the job part time at the team’s expense.
” even though Flores would come with major risks of his own.” Better to go with Chris Shula and Brian Daboll, forget what Brady wants, he hasn’t proved his mettle at selecting anything We don’t need another rethread Keep Patrick Grahm Defenses win championships. Daboll would help our rookie QB and Jeanty.
Maybe but at least do some serious interviewing of new coaches don’t need anymore mc dicks of a coach’s
U heard the owner say that Brady is his go to guy, like Gruden was. Brady will basically ok everything, from players, draft choices, and coaching hires. You all know my opinion regarding Brady’s ability to build the team. Basically, we can only hope that Davis removes himself from selecting who runs the team or that Brady is a quick learner and gets it right.
I defended Carroll all season from claims of outright nepotism. I wanted to wait for the evidence. Here it is. What a shame to tarnish a great coaching legacy in this fashion
Shame on Pete.
I was instantly concerned when they failed to sign any Olinemen, but Cappa, during the offseason. We were ranked 31 in rushing after last season EVERYONE knew we needed to shore up the OL. So whoever made the decision to not upgrade needs to be held accountable. I doubt it was Carroll’s decision.
Interview them all but i lean towards Harbough he has been a head coach and been to the show and now has a bone to pick RaiderNation since the 70s been tough RNFL G Cisneros
Please just sell the team new ownership is badly needed ! Please Mark do radier nation right by absolving your interest in the team.
Look, just get a coach with fire, intensity and a ‘no tolerance” mentality. People like Lombardi, Ditka, Gruden. Cower, Parcells Madden, Belichek and the like. Guess what? , All these guys are super bowl winners. This is a serious business. I don’t want any smiling on the sidelines until you have won the game! Here’s a great current example: Curtis Cignetti
That dude is intense.. but look at the results he gets !
Raider Nation needs the next Tom Flores! A guy that can deliver multiple SB championships! We need a young offensive minded HC to bring a cutting edge mentality and stability.