Pete Carroll's ineptitude as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders has seemingly known no bounds during the 2025 NFL season. It truly is difficult to pinpoint exactly what has gone wrong for the Silver and Black, but perhaps the answer is as simple as "everything."
The offense turns the ball over far too often and can't convert in the red zone, the defense gives up far too many lengthy drives, and the special teams unit has had its share of crucial errors. But arguably the biggest issue for the Raiders this year has been their offensive line and run game.
Of course, Carroll fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and special teams coordinator Tom McMahon for their shortcomings, and the head coach has increasingly put his fingerprints on the team's defense amid their struggles, so it's not like Carroll has been averse to shaking things up.
Pete Carroll won't do anything about Raiders' "biggest disappointment"
However, fans have noticed that there has been no shaking things up when it comes to whoever is in charge of the offensive line, and whoever the run game coordinator is. Peculiar, isn't it? Not really. Brennan Carroll, Pete's eldest son, is both the offensive line coach and the run game coordinator!
It truly is a marvel that one non-coordinator assistant coach could be responsible for the team's two biggest shortcomings. But when you factor in what his last name is, it is no wonder why accountability has been fleeting for these two dramatic issues.
On Sunday, the Raiders' offensive line and run game crumbled once again under the pressure of the Philadelphia Eagles. When Pete Carroll took the podium and addressed the media in his post-game press conference, he was asked, generally, what the biggest disappointment had been this year.
"Our inability to just get the ball moving where we have some kind of substance of a run game to play off of," Carroll said.
Oops!
To look at things factually, however, Carroll is right. On Sunday, the Raiders became the first team in the Super Bowl era to have six straight games where they both ran for less than 75 yards and gave up four or more sacks, according to the Associated Press's Josh Dubow.
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Las Vegas has given up a league-worst 54 sacks for 390 yards, and they've run for nearly 200 fewer yards than the next closest team. The Raiders are averaging 70.8 rushing yards per game, which is about half of what most teams produce, and nearly 20 yards less per game than the team in 31st.
Carroll had no quarrels about criticizing Kelly and McMahon's units to the public, and rightfully so. But Carroll made changes. He replaced McMahon with Derius Swinton II and Kelly with Greg Olson. Those guys didn't perform, and they were out of a job before the season was even over.
But Carroll told on himself here. If the team's biggest disappointment has been their run game, how could he possibly look further than the run game coordinator for blame? Obviously, people are more prone to give family members, and the like, more chances and a longer leash.
However, at some point, Carroll has to start treating this like a professional football operation. When people don't meet expectations, they are fired. Carroll is about to learn that very truth in a matter of weeks when the clock strikes zero in Week 18.
Yet, he won't hold his own son to the same standard that he held Kelly and McMahon to, despite his unit apparently being the biggest disappointment of the season. That is a massive, massive problem in Las Vegas.
It is one thing to have a quick fuse and fire people, and it is one thing to give people too much slack. But it is another thing entirely when a supposed leader is selective in who he holds accountable, and he never selects his son. If Carroll was ever trying to hide it before, he can't now.
He is admittedly and unabashedly playing favorites.