Monday’s firing of Pete Carroll puts the Las Vegas Raiders in line to hire their ninth head coach since 2010, the most in the NFL over that span.
General manager John Spytek acknowledged Monday that a Raiders season that included evident growing pains, a 10-game losing streak, coaching staff changes and a 3-14 record, landing Vegas the No. 1 overall pick, wasn’t all on Carroll, calling the former Super Bowl winning coach a “great partner” who worked tirelessly. Nevertheless, it was clear another reboot was needed.
"This isn't on any one person, and really, I don't want anyone to think that anyone deserves more responsibility than me and that it's something I'm very aware of," Spytek said, via the team’s official website. "I think about it all the time and am determined to get it right. The accountability should start and stop with me, and that needs to be said."
Shuffling through three coaches in four seasons hasn’t allowed the Raiders to find any semblance of continuity. After the roster was built for Carroll, there is a trove of holes to fill in 2026, starting with the quarterback position.
Following back-to-back seasons in the AFC West cellar, the expectation is that minority owner Tom Brady will play a key role in shaping the Raiders' direction. Spytek, who has a relationship with Brady that spans from being college teammates at Michigan to a Super Bowl won together in Tampa Bay to, now, Vegas, said he’ll work with ownership to find the right coach to stop the coaching turnover.
"We see football similar," Spytek said on his relationship with Brady. “We don't see it the same. We have plenty of discussions and disagreements, and I'm not afraid to tell him that. I think that's kind of why he likes me. But I do believe that we see things similar, and we've both had a lot of success seeing it that way, and I think we know what we're after, and it's up to us now to go find it. ...
"I've been here a year now, I've got to know MD [Mark Davis], ownership. I know what the expectations are. I've got to know the building, I think, really well, and we've got a plan in place, and we're going to start working on it. The goal is constant, meticulous improvement so that this organization and the Raider Nation can be proud when they walk into Allegiant Stadium."
The Raiders' 3-14 record is the franchise’s worst since 2006 (2-14). They’ll select No. 1 overall for the first time since selecting JaMarcus Russell in 2007. Las Vegas has not made the playoffs since 2021.