The gamble on Pete Carroll last offseason hasn’t paid off for the Las Vegas Raiders. It appears the game may have passed the 74-year-old head coach by.
However, the Raiders have had five different head coaches in five years. Ownership might be apprehensive to fire another head coach so quickly, especially one with the respect that Carroll has around the NFL.
If the Raiders do decide to retain him, the most important hire he’ll make this offseason is at offensive coordinator. Las Vegas has the worst offense in the NFL this season, and firing offensive coordinator Chip Kelly hasn’t improved things.
Carroll has a defensive background, so he needs a high-end offensive playcaller on his staff, and running it back with Greg Olson isn’t good enough. Luckily, a respected playcaller became available earlier in the season.
The New York Giants decided to fire head coach Brian Daboll, despite the fact that he was named the AP NFL Coach of the Year in 2022. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer believes that Daboll would be a logical choice for the Raiders if Carroll doesn’t get fired.
“Sure, assuming you’re moving forward with Pete Carroll in 2026, I think Brian Daboll would be a hire that would make sense, maybe even enough so that you’d evaluate Daboll as Carroll’s eventual successor,” Breer wrote in response to a question bout Daboll’s fit with the Raiders. “But certainly, discussing next year in a vacuum, Daboll would make sense, with the potential that a quarterback-of-the-future will arrive in Vegas.”
Could Daboll Fix Raiders Offense?
Daboll’s star has faded since being hired by the Giants. With the Buffalo Bills, he was considered one of the best offensive minds in the NFL. He was credited with helping turn Josh Allen from a project to one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
His first year with the Giants was very impressive. He led the team to the playoffs, which they hadn’t done in five years. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to maintain that success, as the Giants have consistently gotten worse each year under him. New York had a bottom-three offense in each of the last two seasons.
As we’re seeing with Josh McDaniels and the New England Patriots, it’s much easier to be a great offensive playcaller when you can solely focus on the offense. Daboll has enough of a track record before his Giants tenure to suggest he could get back to being a strong offensive coordinator.
Carroll Successor?
The most interesting tidbit from Breer’s comment about Daboll is that he noted the coach could eventually be a successor for Carroll. There’s been talk about Carroll needing a successor due to his age. Kelly seemed like a potential option, but he’s already been fired.
Considering Daboll just flamed out with the Giants, he’s not really a great candidate either. That said, plenty of great head coaches don’t have success until their second job. Carroll had to wait until his third NFL head coaching job before he could build a winner.
Carroll likely lost his right to start grooming a successor with how bad this season has gone, but if the Raiders stick with him, it doesn’t hurt to have somebody who could potentially replace him in two or three years.
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