Why Pete Carroll Is Refusing to Give Up on Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders' season has been dismal, but Pete Carroll remains confident in his team over the final three games of the season.

Dec 14, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll talks with players on the sidelines during the first quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders entered the season hoping it would be the first step in turning them around from a cellar dweller of the National Football League back to the winning ways of yesteryear. Las Vegas' new front office made several moves to improve its coaching staff and roster.

As the season comes to an end, it is fair to say that nearly none of the moves the Raiders made this offseason have panned out. It is rare for a team to miss so badly on a set of draft picks and also have their haul of free agents make little impact on the team.

Carroll Still Believes

The Raiders' 2025 season is confirmation of what can happen after years of poor roster construction. It does not matter who the coach is, the Raiders do not have the players on both sides of the ball fo compete on a consistent basis in today's National Football League.

Las Vegas' blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was enough to second-guess the Raiders' decision to hire Carroll in the first place. Following Sunday's loss, Carroll confirmed that his team is still giving the maximum effort despite the results on game day.

“I would never think – what would I base that thought on? That we would be really fighting for our life here? I had nothing but wins, background, history and all of that to set our expectations and to maintain the standards that we work by. That's what we're doing. We're still doing that. We're still practicing hard, we're still working hard, we're still studying hard,” Carroll said.

“The guys are giving good effort. They're in the weight room, they're fighting their tails off. The only good thing that happened, we didn't have anybody hurt today. But they're doing all we're asking of them and this is the result against the world champs last year who maybe weren't playing quite like that for a month here or whatever, but they looked like it today. It looked like a great team today.

Carroll is saying all the right things, as a head coach of his stature is expected to. However, it is hard for anyone outside the Raiders organization to believe in them. The Raiders have shown no improvement this season, prompting fair questions about Carroll's future with the Raiders.

He has every right to still believe in his team and even more of a right to support the team publicly. Still, it will be hard for anyone outside the Raiders organization to share Carroll's public optimism.

Dec 14, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Elandon Roberts (52) talks with Head Coach Pete Carroll on the sidelines during the first quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

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