It’s difficult to feel any kind of positivity about what the Las Vegas Raiders are building right now. The team isn’t doing anything well, and they employ the oldest head coach in NFL history.
Many are ready to see the Raiders blow things up and start from scratch again, but it’s difficult to evaluate the front office right now. Pete Carroll has avoided giving many rookies a lot of playing time this season.
General manager John Spytek was highly regarded when the Raiders hired him away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Some of the bad moves he made were certainly Carroll-driven, like trading for and extending quarterback Geno Smith.
However, the fact that he wasn’t more aggressive in addressing the offensive line was clearly a mistake in hindsight. Despite the ugly first year, it sounds like there are no plans to make major changes in the front office, according to The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov.
“Front office, I think everyone is safe,” Meirov said on “NFL Spotlight.” “From John Spytek to all of the great people that he hired this offseason. I think they want to build this the right way.”
Is the Coaching Staff Safe?
Spytek brought in a lot of high-level executives this offseason, and it was always going to take time to sort out the front office. He’s not a retread like Tom Telesco, and he’s not directly tied to the head coach like Dave Ziegler or Mike Mayock.
He’s a person minority owner Tom Brady trusts, so it makes sense to at least give him three full years to turn this thing around. The coaching staff, on the other hand, is a different story, per Meirov.
“The coaching staff, that’s one I’ll be watching very closely,” Meirov said. “They already fired the special teams coordinator last week. And now there are questions over here around the NFL about head coach Pete Carroll, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. Those are kind of the two we are watching here.”
Carroll misevaluated the Raiders’ talent level, but continues to play underwhelming veterans over young players. He’s not the right coach for where the franchise is at. Kelly is also not a good fit. The Raiders would be wise to clear out the coaching staff and let Spytek hand-pick the next head coach. That’s not to say that Carroll isn’t still a good coach; he’s just a bad fit.
Carroll Not Giving up On Season
At 2-8, the Raiders would have to win out to even sniff a chance at the playoffs. That’s highly unlikely, so it would make sense to start leaning into developing young players.
However, Carroll doesn’t seem interested in changing his approach.
“We’re trying our best to win the games,” Carroll said after the Cowboys‘ loss.
Carroll’s sentiment doesn’t make much sense considering the Raiders are losing ugly despite playing veteran players. Perhaps the young players could actually make an impact on the field. At some point, Brady and owner Mark Davis might need to empower Spyek to force Carroll into embracing youth. If he’s not willing to, then it might be time to make a change at head coach.
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