The Las Vegas Raiders appear to be inching toward the inevitable with Pete Carroll, and somehow the only surprise left is that Las Vegas is pretending this is still a mystery. At 74, Carroll is not exactly the prototype for a decade-long rebuild. Well, unless the plan is to draft Fernando Mendoza and immediately whisk him off to a retirement home for quarterbacks.
Former Raider Marshall Newhouse has been refreshingly candid for years. On the Just Win podcast, he made the obvious point. If Carroll is influencing the next 10 picks, congratulations: the Raiders are building a “Carroll team” for a future he won’t coach. It’s like letting your landlord pick your furniture after you’ve decided to move.
The message regarding the Raiders is clear…
Newhouse was diplomatic, but the message was unmistakable. Leaving Carroll in place ensures his fingerprints remain on every decision. And if he is not the future, then every week he remains in the chair is a week spent baking someone else’s philosophy into your long-term roster. In a league built entirely on timing, this is not strategy. It is procrastination.
Add in Tony Pauline’s report that Carroll was the loudest voice on Ashton Jeanty—while the front office eyed Mason Graham as a Wilkins replacement—and the disconnect reads like the organizational version of two people trying to steer one shopping cart. Spytek apparently did not hire Carroll, did not drive the Jeanty pick, and may not even be syncing with the head coach on personnel. That is not a partnership; it is a bureaucratic hostage situation.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Fowler said the Raiders have begun “preliminary research” on replacements. As if this isn’t the same organization that telegraphs every major decision months in advance. Raider Nation Radio’s Q Myers even floated Kevin Stefanski as an option should Cleveland part ways (though it was not an endorsement), which is a little like saying, “If the Michelin chef leaves his restaurant, sure, we’ll take him.”
By the time Pauline reported that three sources expect Carroll to be gone after Week 18 and called the facility a “dumpster fire,” the suspense was gone. Players want answers. Fans want direction. The front office wants alignment. Carroll wants to win now. Those goals don’t match.
If the Raiders truly care about the next decade, the decision should have been made yesterday. Keeping Carroll at this point is not loyalty; it is inertia dressed as patience.
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images