The Las Vegas Raiders had a seismic shift this offseason when they welcomed Pete Carroll and John Spytek into the hallways of Raiders HQ. Stuck in no man's land without a quarterback of the future nor a feasible draft pick to select one, Las Vegas made a massive, and ultimately revealing, pivot.
Geno Smith was acquired by the Raiders via trade, as Spytek's second big move as a general manager was to unite the veteran quarterback with his longtime head coach. If only fans knew that this was going to be a harbinger of what was to come.
Just as Carroll proved to be past his prime in Las Vegas, so did Smith. And unfortunately, so did all of the former Seattle Seahawks that Carroll brought with him. The Raiders' 2025 season was a train wreck, or perhaps a crime scene of some sort, and the veteran coach's fingerprints are all over it.
Pete Carroll's "guys" were everything wrong with Raiders in 2025
Head coaches and general managers tend to lean on their connections when they take a new job. They'll snag some up-and-comers from their previous employer to help them out as they transition into life with a new team.
But Carroll was ousted by Seattle for not performing up to snuff, and he decided to get the rest of his former Seahawks players who fit that description back together in Las Vegas. The list included Smith, Tyler Lockett, Stone Forysthe, Jamal Adams, Jon Rhattigan, and Kyu Blu Kelly, at least somewhat.
Smith was arguably the worst quarterback in the NFL this year, as his 17 interceptions and 55 sacks taken led the league. The Raiders' offense averaged a league-worst 14.2 points, and Smith's ineptitude was a critical part of that failure.
Lockett caught just 22 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown in 10 games with the team, despite playing nearly half the snaps. His biggest impact on the roster was getting in the way of younger players in Las Vegas who deserved a shot to grow and make their mark.
Forsythe didn't even play until Week 5, but he still gave up a whopping 11 sacks, five quarterback hits and 24 quarterback hurries this season. While he ended the year on a high note, he was a glaring weak point on an overall ineffective offensive line in Las Vegas.
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Raiders fans had high hopes for Adams after the preseason and the early weeks of the campaign, but both his role and effectiveness simmered down as the year dragged on. Adams wasn't a bad player by any means, but the fact that he's the best player on this list says a lot.
Rhattigan was a fairly insignificant signing, as he held his own on special teams and nothing more. Kelly was a slightly different case than the rest of the players on this list, as he was already in Las Vegas upon Carroll's arrival. Kelly played for the Seahawks under Carroll, however.
As a result, Kelly got a seemingly never-ending leash despite getting gashed nearly every Sunday. In 354 coverage snaps, he gave up 34 catches for 530 yards and four touchdowns. But he kept getting chances because Carroll had a history with him.
We wrote about Carroll's undying loyalty to the wrong people earlier this week. But a deeper dive into exactly how those moves backfired on him paints a clear picture of why he is no longer employed by the franchise.
His sons were a disaster on the coaching staff, and his network of former Seahawks failed both him and the team. Carroll dug his heels in about everyone he brought to Las Vegas, and he staked his claim on things from the past still working instead of being adaptable.
It doesn't take great police work or a keen detective to recognize that the Raiders' failures this year were largely Carroll's failures. He can't distance himself from exactly why this team fell short, because he was too enveloped in not backing down and proving himself right.