Raiders’ Dysfunction Hits New Lows Under Pete Carroll’s Watch
For more than two decades, the Raiders have been no strangers to chaos. Losing seasons, revolving doors at key positions, and front office drama have all been hallmarks of the franchise’s modern identity. But this season, with Pete Carroll at the helm, the dysfunction hasn’t just continued-it’s evolved.
Carroll was brought in to bring stability, if not immediate success. His resume, after all, speaks for itself. But instead of righting the ship, he’s found himself at the center of yet another turbulent chapter in Raiders history-one that’s now seen the team part ways with offensive coordinator Chip Kelly midseason and sink deeper into disarray.
The Fallout from Chip Kelly’s Departure
When Kelly was fired, the blame game kicked off almost immediately. First came whispers that Kelly was in over his head, with reports painting him as the architect of a broken offense.
Then came the distancing act-Kelly was reportedly a Tom Brady hire, not Carroll’s, suggesting Carroll never fully bought in. But Kelly’s camp didn’t stay quiet for long.
According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, Carroll didn’t just oversee the offense-he controlled it. The report suggests Kelly had little autonomy, with Carroll dictating the direction of the offense from the top down. That tracks with what opposing defensive coordinators reportedly saw on tape: an offense that looked eerily similar to Carroll’s final season in Seattle under Shane Waldron, not the creative, shotgun-heavy run schemes that have defined Kelly’s past work.
In other words, the Raiders offense didn’t resemble Kelly’s because, according to these reports, it wasn’t really his.
A Misaligned Marriage from the Start
Even if Kelly was brought in under Brady’s influence, Carroll had the clout to push back. He didn’t.
And that decision-or lack of one-has had ripple effects all season. From the outside, Kelly always seemed like an awkward fit with Carroll’s philosophy.
Now, with the offense sputtering and the team staring down another double-digit loss season, that mismatch looks glaring.
The Raiders’ Week 13 loss to the Chargers only reinforced the dysfunction. The offense was flat, the team looked directionless, and any hope that a midseason shakeup might spark something new quickly faded.
Inside the Locker Room: More Questions Than Answers
On the Just Win Podcast, analyst Ted Nguyen and former Raiders offensive lineman Marshall Newhouse peeled back the curtain on what’s really been going on behind the scenes. Nguyen cited Rapoport’s reporting and doubled down on the idea that Kelly was never allowed to install or run his own offense.
“Maybe it was a Tom Brady hire, and it was forced upon Pete,” Nguyen said. “But again, just dysfunction. The ideas and philosophies are not lining up together, which is what we’ve seen from the Raiders in the past.”
Nguyen didn’t stop there. He hinted that the situation behind closed doors might be even worse than what’s been made public.
“There’s more that I can’t tell you guys right now, but it’s as bad as it’s ever been,” he said. “I’ve never seen that before, where you bring in an offensive coordinator and you just don’t allow him to run his offense.”
That’s a staggering claim. And if true, it paints a troubling picture of a franchise where power struggles and misaligned visions are getting in the way of even basic functionality.
Where Do the Raiders Go from Here?
The Raiders have long struggled to find consistency, but this season has added a new layer of dysfunction-one rooted not just in poor execution, but in the very structure of decision-making. If Carroll truly handcuffed his offensive coordinator, then the team’s lack of identity on that side of the ball makes a lot more sense.
And if the locker room and coaching staff are fractured behind the scenes, it’s hard to see how things improve without major changes.
For now, the Raiders remain stuck in a cycle that’s all too familiar: mismatched hires, internal strife, and a product on the field that reflects the chaos off it. Whether Carroll survives the fallout remains to be seen, but the warning signs are flashing in bright neon.
In a season that was supposed to mark a new era of stability, the Raiders have once again found themselves lost in the fog-perhaps more than ever before.