New Report Details Depth of Raiders' Dysfunction Amid Lost 2025 Season

Las Vegas is smarting after its worst season in nearly two decades.

An ESPN report spelled out discord between Raiders owner Mark Davis, the front office and the coaches. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Raiders are not that far removed from relevance—Las Vegas went 10–7 as recently as 2021 and pushed the Bengals in an AFC wild-card game.

However, a 3–14 season in 2025 (after a 4–13 season in 2024) made it clear a gut is in order. On Tuesday, a new report from Kalyn Kahler and Ryan McFadden of ESPN outlined the dysfunction within the Raiders that led them to start again.

“Interviews with 22 people in and around the team and the league point... to... continued dysfunction symptomatic of an impatient owner, a misaligned front office and coaching staff, and players who lost respect for their coaches,” Kahler and McFadden wrote.

Examples Kahler and McFadden gave included the work of offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, with Kahler and McFadden citing two sources who said “practice installs didn’t work, players didn’t buy into what he was trying to do, and some were confused about the plays he was running.” Then-coach Pete Carroll fired Kelly on Nov. 23; Carroll himself was dismissed Monday.

Additionally, Kahler and McFadden’s reporting criticized the work of offensive line coach Brennan Carroll—Pete’s son. Though players were diplomatic toward Brennan, agents were willing to attack him directly (with one accusing Pete outright of nepotism).

“An agent of a Raiders offensive lineman said that his client told him the position group met multiple times on their own with (quarterback Geno) Smith and (running back Ashton) Jeanty, and specifically without coaches, so the quarterback and running back could talk to them about how they wanted the offensive line to create blocks,” Kahler and McFadden wrote.

That agent told the reporters they had never seen that before in the NFL.

Owner Mark Davis—the son of legendary ex-team owner Al Davis, one of pro football’s towering figures—has owned the team since 2011. Las Vegas has yet to win a playoff game in his tenure.

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