After a four-win campaign in 2024, the Las Vegas Raiders needed a culture reset this offseason more than any other NFL team. They're on track to finally have one now with head coach Pete Carroll setting the tone.
While his football knowledge, leadership skills and winning pedigree are plenty for Raider Nation to be excited about, Carroll also brought with him an incredible coaching staff.
Among these new faces in Las Vegas is a hidden asset for the Raiders who can help define the team's success during the 2025 NFL season.
Chip Kelly's evolution as a coach will be critical to Raiders' success in 2025
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On a recent episode of the [NFL Daily podcast](https://t.co/DCMFrI0eJr), NFL Network's Greg Rosenthal dove into a potential secret weapon for each AFC team. While most would typically think of players, Rosenthal tabbed new Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly for this distinction.
"Try to think about a secret weapon here (for the Raiders)," Rosenthal said. "Chip Kelly's personal growth would be a good one. In Philadelphia, he just did not seem like he could manage the personalities and the people around him, and he had one idea of how he was gonna do an offense. He's found a way to adapt, we've seen him be run-heavy, we've seen him be pass-heavy, we've seen him do all sorts of things. He's in his sixties now. He's in a better position to make a difference in the NFL than when he was the head coach."
This glowing review of Kelly should be music to the ears of Raider Nation. While many had their reservations about Kelly due to his failure at his last NFL stop, the consensus seems to be growing that he has matured as a coach.
**RELATED:** [**Chip Kelly already doing what Luke Getsy never could with Raiders playmaker**](https://justblogbaby.com/chip-kelly-already-doing-what-luke-getsy-never-could-with-raiders-playmaker-01jx0nqpz5t2)
When Kelly became the Philadelphia Eagles' head coach in 2013, he brought the fast-paced offense he ran at Oregon to the NFL. It worked for a bit, as the Eagles made the playoffs in each of his first two seasons, but he was fired before the final game of his third season.
A one-year stint as the San Francisco 49ers' head coach in 2016 went worse than expected, as he was only able to muster a 2-14 record before being fired. After this, he went back to the college level as a head coach at UCLA from 2018-2023 and then won a National Championship as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2024.
Kelly will have plenty of offensive firepower to work with this season in Las Vegas with Geno Smith under center. All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers is expected to keep improving, and 1,000-yard receiver Jakobi Meyers is headlining a Raiders wide receiver room with incredible promise. Generational running back prospect Ashton Jeanty will also be wearing the Silver and Black this season.
Some people are simply not suited to be an NFL head coach, and Kelly is firmly in that category. He now holds an ideal position in Las Vegas, however, as an offensive coordinator and play-caller. But the lessons he learned from his previous tenure at the professional level will benefit the Raiders greatly now.
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