Roughly a year ago, there was a fair level of optimism around the Las Vegas Raiders. Pete Carroll carried an air of credibility as he returned to coaching from a one-season "retirement," and the Silver and Black would at least not be pushovers under his guidance, most thought.
A win in Week 1 over the eventual AFC champion New England Patriots got things off to a good start, but it was all downhill from there. Between wins in Week 1 and Week 18, the Raiders emerged victorious in just one other game, a Week 6 sludge over the Tennessee Titans.
But there was a silver lining to having such a bad season: The Raiders finally bottomed all the way out to earn the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, landing Fernando Mendoza, and Carroll was one-and-done as head coach to foster a complete, much-needed reset.
John Spytek and Carroll were never on the same page, and the Las Vegas general manager has made it abundantly clear how much better aligned he and head coach Klint Kubiak are. "Rowing the same direction" is an appropriate metaphor, and the Raiders will be all the better for it.
NFL voice succintly sums up the Raiders' Pete Carroll era
On a recent episode of the Check the Mic podcast, Steve Palazzolo and Sam Monson of The 33rd Team offered a reason for optimism for all 32 teams heading toward the 2026 season. In reference to how they've done the premise, it was framed as "how (insert team name) can win the Super Bowl."
Palazzolo offered the easy reasons for optimism for Raider Nation: A new head coach in Klint Kubiak and a new quarterback in Mendoza. Monson also noted that the other pieces that have been added to the roster with focus on the improved offensive line.
Then, Palazzolo offered what he sees as the Raiders' biggest reason for optimism.
"The biggest reason for optimism for the Raiders is that it feels like there’s a long-term plan here. Geno Smith felt like, ‘Eh, let’s just win some games here and see what happens.’”
"We'll see what happens" (or something akin to it) was a vibe, if not an exact quote, at times, that Carroll had last season. How about this ill-conceived offensive line combination? "We'll see what happens." Geno Smith isn't playing well, even if it's not entirely his fault? "We'll see what happens."
It's not an accident that Palazzolo summed up the Raiders' year under Carroll the way that he did.
When it came down to it, not that anyone would have had very many answers, given the circumstances, Carroll had virtually no solution for the Raiders' woes last season. When he had any potential solutions to offer, they felt half-baked and didn't foster belief from anyone or results.
A year ago, Carroll had not yet been fully revealed as a man with no real plan, and the "plan" he did have was strictly his own. Time will tell if the Raiders' current plan works out, but having a unified vision is a big step in the proper direction, and a core reason for optimism.
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