The Las Vegas Raiders have been holding firm despite a rough start to the season, but after a brutal Week 10 loss to the Denver Broncos in primetime, the team had to make a move. One of the few assistant coaches who kept his job from the previous regime was special teams coordinator Tom McMahon.
So far, the Raiders’ special teams have been awful. The team had a punt blocked against the Broncos and multiple penalties. That’s not to mention that kicker Daniel Carlson has regressed this year. It wasn’t the first game that the special teams have struggled.
The Raiders had to make some kind of change amid their 2-7 start. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the team has decided to fire McMahon.
This shouldn’t be a surprise. McMahon wasn’t one of Pete Carroll’s guys coming into the year, as he was originally hired during the Josh McDaniels regime. Special teams haven’t been too much of a talking point during his tenure until this season, but it’s clear the Raiders had to make a change.
The team isn’t doing much of anything right, but they can’t afford to let special teams keep making things more difficult than they need to be.
Chip Kelly Officially on Hot Seat
It’s somewhat of a surprise that McMahon was the first coach on the Raiders’ staff to get fired this year. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly is the one that many want to see get let go. Las Vegas is averaging 15.4 points a game, which is third-worst in the NFL.
While the team doesn’t have elite personnel, they should be better than last year’s group, which averaged 18.2 points a game. The fact that Kelly can’t outperform Luke Getsy, who was fired during last season, is a big problem.
The Raiders may simply be stuck with him for now due to his huge contract. It’s not like the team is going to make a playoff run. Regardless, Kelly has the next hottest seat on the coaching staff. He simply hasn’t performed to the level that the team expected when they made him the highest-paid coordinator in the NFL.
Will Raiders Start Over in Offseason?
The Raiders have been cycling through so many head coaches in recent years, and there’s no doubt that owner Mark Davis just wants to find the right guy. At this point, it’s fair to question if the game has passed Carroll by.
He was once a great coach, but he’s 74 now. The Raiders need to rebuild the roster, so having the oldest head coach in NFL history doesn’t make a lot of sense.
General manager John Spytek could have the chance to keep his job, but it might be best if the Raiders and Carroll mutually decide to part ways. It’s hard to imagine that this season has been very fun for Carroll, who thought the team had a chance to compete this year.
It’s still most likely that Carroll gets another season, but it’s hard to rule anything out with this Raiders franchise while Davis is in charge.
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