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John Spytek, Mark Davis and Pete Carroll of the Las Vegas Raiders.
It has been far from the magical start the Las Vegas Raiders were likely hoping for. After years of failed coaching and general manager hires, the team thought they had finally found the right duo in Pete Carroll and John Spytek.
The Raiders are now 1-4 and coming off a 40-6 blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Spytek chose to let a lot of key players walk in free agency and didn’t make many big moves to replace them. That’s clearly looking like a mistake in hindsight.
Carroll likely has enough previous credibility to survive this season, but Spytek might not be as comfortable. Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report believes that he’s already on the hot seat.
“The reality is that Las Vegas has looked like a worse team than it was a year ago despite undergoing a substantial offseason overhaul,” Knox wrote. “Head coach Pete Carroll hasn’t provided the disciplined, winning culture most expected he would. General manager John Spytek took some bold swings in the offseason but has seemingly assembled one of the league’s weakest rosters.
“Poor quarterback play has been a big part of the problem, but the offensive line and secondary have both been bad. And Las Vegas’ decision to use the sixth overall pick on running back Ashton Jeanty isn’t paying off.”
Knox even went so far as to suggest that Spytek could get let go before the end of the season.
“Carroll could be a one-and-done head coach, but a pivot away from Spytek is probably even more likely,” Knox added. Assistant GM Brian Stark, who previously served as Denver’s director of college scouting, could fill the role on an interim basis while the Raiders search for a new GM—presumably, another with ties to minority owner Tom Brady.
It’s Far Too Early to Give Up on Spytek
It’s very hard to imagine a scenario where the Raiders already give up on Spytek. In his defense, a lot of the team’s worst moves are also Carroll’s decision. The coach is obviously the one who pushed to trade for quarterback Geno Smith, who has been a disaster.
Spytek also didn’t decide to hire Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator or Brennan Carroll as the offensive line coach. It’s far too early to know if Spytek’s first draft class is any good. First-round pick Ashton Jeanty looks like a future star, but he’s the only rookie seeing consistent snaps every week. Spytek wasn’t some random executive they hired. He has a ton of experience and is close with Tom Brady. He’s going to at least get one more year to keep building.
Raiders Can’t Keep Firing GMs & HCs
Even if Carroll and Spytek don’t work out in the long run, the Raiders can’t keep going through these cycles of hiring and firing coaches. It has been over two decades since the team won a playoff game, so it’s not fair to put everything on those two.
Now, the Raiders do need to show signs of improvement, and young players need to keep getting better. Five games are not enough time to know for sure if the team hired the wrong head coach-general manager combo again.