None of us wants the outcome that feels inevitable at this point. Seattle Seahawks fans generally like Pete Carroll. He was pushed out after 2023, and the move has worked out well for the team. Mike Macdonald replaced Carroll and has a record of 18-10 through most of two seasons.
For Carroll, things went from bad to temporarily jobless, to hopeful, to likely having one of the more ugly ends to a long coaching career in recent memory. The coach was hired by the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason to be their head coach, and this season has been far worse for Vegas than anyone anticipated.
Las Vegas, which has several former Seahawks players on the roster, too, entered Week 12 at 2-8, but with an apparently good chance of getting the third victory. The Raiders were taking on rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders and the awful Cleveland Browns.
Former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll might have just hit rock bottom
Sanders was the player who plummeted in the 2025 NFL draft from as high as the number-two overall pick, according to some pundits, to the fifth round. He found a way to say all the wrong things in training camp and the preseason and was extremely arrogant at times, and in his first action of the season, he went four for 16 passing for 47 yards and an interception in Week 11.
The Raiders made him look quite decent in a brutal 24-10 loss to the Browns in Week 12. Sanders finished 11 of 20 passing for 209 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
So, what did Vegas do after the game? It fired its offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, of course, but the defensive coordinator is fine so far. To be fair, the move is probably just the first of many for Las Vegas. Next offseason, the team could be looking for a new head coach as well.
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One thing against Pete Carroll is his age. He is 74 years old. He definitely could live many more years, but 74 is old for a football coach, especially one with a bad roster whose culture needs to be revamped. Carroll simply doesn't have the time to do that.
No one could blame Carroll for getting back into coaching, of course. That is what he has done for most of his life. The Seattle Seahawks wanted to make a change, but Carroll didn't want to retire. Unfortunately, as bad as the season has gone for the Las Vegas Raiders, Carroll might be forced into retirement.