The Las Vegas Raiders' marriage with Pete Carroll was never going to last long. Hiring a 74-year-old coach is always a short-term investment, and the Raiders went dead broke betting on Carroll to turn things around and set a culture in Las Vegas during the 2025 NFL season.
Instead of celebrating his triumphant Week 18 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs to end the season, Carroll was forced to pack up his office at Raiders HQ, as he was fired on "Black Monday." Another new era will begin in Las Vegas, and hopefully, this one will breed different results.
Nobody is more sick of monumental changes than superstar defensive end Maxx Crosby, who has already played for five head coaches in his first seven NFL seasons. If he remains with the Raiders next year, it'll be his sixth different head coach in eight years. That is unbelievable turnover.
Maxx Crosby had no shortage of praise for Pete Carroll following coaching change
Despite this seemingly annual bombshell being dropped on him on Monday, Crosby took the time to address Carroll's firing during his weekly appearance on SiriusXM's Let's Go! with host Jim Gray. He made his feelings clear on the veteran coach after Carroll got the axe in Las Vegas.
"I haven’t had time to really process it, to be honest,” Crosby said. “I just found out. I’m here in the building, and I literally see it pop up on the TV. So it was kind of gloomy, I would say. It’s something that I’ve been a part of before, but just to speak on Pete, this season didn't go the way we expected it at all. From the players to the coaches, I don’t think anybody expected we would be in this position and getting the number one pick, to be honest.
“But I will say, you know, the one thing I did admire about Pete is he was, I mean, consistent as they come. He has won for such a long time. He is a Super Bowl champion. He won a national championship at USC. He has been an incredible coach, and he has had an incredible journey. So, unfortunately, this thing didn’t work out the way we expected it, but he has done an incredible job and had an incredible career, and he was always awesome to me. Still gonna have that relationship regardless. Had a lot of coaches in my time, to say the least, but all of those coaches, you take something from them, you learn something from them. And just we’re back to the process again and trying to figure out whatever that’s gonna be. I wish him the best. Like I said, he was always incredible to me and treated me amazing. Big shout out to Coach Pete, and we’ll see what happens next.”
Crosby, as always, is incredibly classy and grounded. Just like Carroll and everyone else in Raider Nation, Crosby did not see this coming. It wasn't even the fact that Carroll guaranteed wins before the season that made things so brutal in 2025; it was the fact that things just didn't make sense.
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Carroll and John Spytek were clearly operating on two vastly different timelines, but the roster had enough talent to muster more than three wins, only two of which came against opponents playing their starters. Carroll is a legendary coach with an incredible track record. How did things get so bad?
The snowball effect can be a very real thing for NFL teams, as it is a hard league to win in, and these high-profile losses make it easy to get discouraged. This offseason will be massive for the Silver and Black, as neither the team nor the fan base can endure another year like the one that just unfolded.
One of the first pieces of the offseason puzzle will be what the franchise decides to do with Crosby. Spytek neglected to label the edge rusher as untouchable this offseason, so his standing in Las Vegas will be a major thing to watch for in the coming months.
For now, Crosby is soaking in the news and choosing to take the high road, praising Carroll for his legendary career and thanking him for his teachings. Statements like these have to be getting old for Crosby, but he makes them nonetheless every offseason. Hopefully, this was his last one.