Pete Carroll got fired by the Seattle Seahawks at age 72, but he still wanted to coach. His next NFL gig with the Las Vegas Raiders turned into a total disaster, and it didn't last.

The Raiders announced on Monday that they've fired 74-year-old Carroll after his first season ended with a dismal 3-14 record.

They had signed him to a three-year deal back in January 2025 to take over as head coach. Now, the team is moving on with a new leader. They've locked up the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, which kicks off a fresh era.

Carroll came in to fix the Raiders' culture and make them more competitive. The franchise has been one of the NFL's worst for decades. It was a strange hire, a team far from contending picking the oldest head coach in NFL history. But with his success at the Seahawks and USC before that, he looked like a big step up from the Raiders' recent coaches.

It didn't work out that way. The Raiders decided one season was enough.

Pete Carroll's Raiders Stint Falls Flat

Carroll first hit the NFL in the 1990s with a so-so resume. He had a rough time with the Jets and a losing season with the Patriots. People thought he might just be a college guy after that, but then he crushed it at USC. In Seattle, he was even better, a 137-89-1 record and the team's first Super Bowl win.

His 2023 firing by the Seahawks caught people off guard. They just wanted a new direction, and no one doubted his NFL skills. Last offseason, after the Raiders missed out on Ben Johnson to replace Antonio Pierce, they turned to Carroll. Things went south fast.

The Raiders made three big swings to win right away. They brought in Chip Kelly as the NFL's highest-paid offensive coordinator. They traded for Carroll's old Seattle QB, 35-year-old Geno Smith. And they drafted running back Ashton Jeanty sixth overall. These were all "win-now" moves. Kelly got fired midseason, Smith struggled and got booed at home, and Jeanty had a letdown rookie year.

The losses kept coming. They started with a win at the Patriots, then won just one of their next 15, against a weak Titans team at home. Games got ugly, like a 31-0 blowout loss to the Eagles in Week 15. They did upset the Chiefs in Week 18, a bright spot, but not enough to save Carroll.

As the defeats mounted, it was clear he'd likely get replaced after just one year. The big question was whether he'd coach out the season.

Who Will the Raiders Hire Next?

Selling this job won't be easy, just like when Ben Johnson picked the Chicago Bears over Vegas. Maybe the No. 1 pick and a shot at a new QB like Indiana's Fernando Mendoza will attract someone.

Brock Bowers and Maxx Crosby are legit stars, and Jeanty was a top prospect. But beyond them, the Raiders lack young talent. Crosby's future is shaky after a fight over putting him on injured reserve for the last two games. This is a team with past championship vibes that's been all about losing lately, no playoff wins since the 2002 AFC title game. It's dysfunctional, with no clear plan, as their offseason moves showed.

Over the last 24 seasons, they've had 14 head coaches, including interims. That says it all about the losing and weak leadership from the top. They're hoping the 15th in 25 years turns it around, but it's a huge rebuild.

Hiring Carroll was supposed to be a long-term fix too. It was an odd match from day one. And it turned out way worse than anyone imagined. 

Moments like the Raiders firing Pete Carroll are where betting markets often misfire. Organizational chaos, coaching resets, and front-office desperation create mispriced futures, inflated win totals, and bad assumptions heading into the offseason. Bankroll U is built to help bettors identify when a franchise reset actually signals opportunity, not optimism. From coaching carousel fallout to draft-driven overreactions, our playmakers break down the structural edges the public ignores. Don’t pick narratives, pick reality with Bankroll U.

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