What Really Went Down Between Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly—and Why the Raiders Rumors Are Spiraling Out of Control. DH

There are rumors regarding Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll’s involvement in the offense of fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, and we will address them definitively.

The Las Vegas Raiders’ 2025 National Football League season can be summed up succinctly with one word:  disaster.

The NFL is no different from any other business or entity that involves human beings: when things do not go well, more often than not, finger-pointing will ensue.

I have reported on multiple occasions that I credit both Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly, who never set out to, nor do I have any knowledge of, sabotaging the other.

There are rumors regarding Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll’s involvement in the offense of fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, and we will address them definitively.

Reality from Fiction

On the Rich Eisen show, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero discussed the dysfunction in the Kelly offense. 

Pelissero reported in detail on the dysfunction in play calling and other aspects of the horrific state of the Silver and Black offense.  We have confirmed many things.

Pete vs. Chip?

Chip Kelly ran his offense in Las Vegas.  That is not a guess, and I can tell you definitively.  If you loved the offense or you hated it, Kelly owns it.

Carroll certainly hasn’t been afraid to call for more running game when he wanted it publicly, or to question the use of personnel, such as playing time for rookie WR Jack Bech, but Carroll’s public comments were in response to usage that Kelly called for.

To their credit, both men, publicly and privately, didn’t speak disparagingly of the other.  It was professional.

That didn’t mean Carroll didn’t explain what he wanted from a Raiders offense post-Kelly.

“We need to run the ball better, and we need to have the running game available to us, I think I probably mentioned that last week, when you need it. Short yardage, red zone, goal line, fourth quarter, all of those times that have historically been when you need to call on it, and then you have to orchestrate your game so that it fits that. And that’s why the play passes are so important and the actions are so important, and keeping the quarterback clean, and minimizing the distances on third down. All of those things all fit together. I’ve been doing it this way for a lot of years, and it’s a winning formula if you play good defense and you kick the ball well. And so, we’re trying to get that, and we just have not captured it. And so, this is what this move is about.”