Pete Carroll came out of retirement with hopes of quickly turning the Las Vegas Raiders into playoff contenders. His tenure will end after just one season.

The Raiders fired Carroll Monday, the team announced, shortly after a 3-14 campaign that at least delivered the silver lining of earning the Raiders the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Las Vegas closed its season with a 14-12 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, a victory that would have cost the Raiders the top pick had the New York Giants not beaten the Dallas Cowboys earlier Sunday.

It’s the second year in a row the Raiders will conduct a coaching search and the next coach will be the Raiders’ fifth full-time coach since 2021. Las Vegas hired Carroll in January to replace Antonio Pierce, who was elevated from interim coach in 2024 and went 4-13 before being fired. The Raiders also hired a new general manager last offseason in John Spytek. He will remain in place and lead the football operations in close collaboration with minority owner Tom Brady, the team said in a statement.

pic.twitter.com/0DGomhbJVW

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 5, 2026

Carroll’s hiring marked his return to the NFL sideline after his 14 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. He stepped down as head coach after the 2023 season as the winningest coach in Seattle franchise history with a 137-89-1 regular-season record and 10-9 postseason mark that included a Super Bowl title after the 2013 season. He was also a two-time national champion at USC, though one of the titles was vacated, and had prior NFL head coaching stints with the New England Patriots and New York Jets.

The 74-year-old — the oldest head coach in NFL history — started his Raiders tenure strong with a season-opening win over the Patriots, but that proved to be a mirage as Las Vegas won just two more games the rest of the way to finish tied for the worst record in the league.

Carroll said after Sunday’s season finale that he wanted to return and had not had any discussions about retirement. The 3-14 season is by far Carroll’s worst in 19 years as an NFL head coach and just the third time he’s lost double-digit games. He went 6-10 as a rookie head coach in his only season with the Jets in 1994. He also went 7-10 with the Seahawks in 2021. He never won fewer than six games in his nine seasons at USC.

Carroll’s experience upon his hiring came with a caveat. Time — and patience — for a rebuild were limited. A blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts in October proved the Raiders were far away from contender status, and Carroll voiced frustration in that.

“I’m processing it poorly, to tell you the truth,” Carroll said at the time. “Because I did expect to win right out of the chute.”

A Nov. 23 loss to the Cleveland Browns prompted Carroll to fire offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, whom the organization made the highest-paid OC in the league at the time of his offseason hiring. Tension in the Kelly-Carroll collaboration emerged as early as Week 2, when Carroll seemed to take issue with Kelly’s play calling. Notably, Kelly’s offense struggled to get 2024 first-round pick Ashton Jeanty involved in creative ways, and the rushing offense ranked last in the league because of it. Quarterback Geno Smith led the league with 17 interceptions and the 55 sacks he took tied for the league lead.

Now it will be up to Spytek and Brady to overhaul a franchise that has made just two playoff appearances since reaching the Super Bowl after the 2002 season. The Raiders haven’t won a playoff game since the 2002 AFC Championship Game.

Brady, whose ownership stake was approved in October 2024, has thus far mostly maintained an advisory role — at least publicly. But Monday’s announcement makes clear that he will play a big part in shaping the next Raiders regime, which is likely to select a quarterback with the No. 1 pick in the draft.

Pete Carroll came out of retirement with hopes of quickly turning the Las Vegas Raiders into playoff contenders. His tenure will end after just one season.

The Raiders fired Carroll Monday, the team announced, shortly after a 3-14 campaign that at least delivered the silver lining of earning the Raiders the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Las Vegas closed its season with a 14-12 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, a victory that would have cost the Raiders the top pick had the New York Giants not beaten the Dallas Cowboys earlier Sunday.

It’s the second year in a row the Raiders will conduct a coaching search and the next coach will be the Raiders’ fifth full-time coach since 2021. Las Vegas hired Carroll in January to replace Antonio Pierce, who was elevated from interim coach in 2024 and went 4-13 before being fired. The Raiders also hired a new general manager last offseason in John Spytek. He will remain in place and lead the football operations in close collaboration with minority owner Tom Brady, the team said in a statement.

pic.twitter.com/0DGomhbJVW

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 5, 2026

Carroll’s hiring marked his return to the NFL sideline after his 14 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. He stepped down as head coach after the 2023 season as the winningest coach in Seattle franchise history with a 137-89-1 regular-season record and 10-9 postseason mark that included a Super Bowl title after the 2013 season. He was also a two-time national champion at USC, though one of the titles was vacated, and had prior NFL head coaching stints with the New England Patriots and New York Jets.

The 74-year-old — the oldest head coach in NFL history — started his Raiders tenure strong with a season-opening win over the Patriots, but that proved to be a mirage as Las Vegas won just two more games the rest of the way to finish tied for the worst record in the league.

Carroll said after Sunday’s season finale that he wanted to return and had not had any discussions about retirement. The 3-14 season is by far Carroll’s worst in 19 years as an NFL head coach and just the third time he’s lost double-digit games. He went 6-10 as a rookie head coach in his only season with the Jets in 1994. He also went 7-10 with the Seahawks in 2021. He never won fewer than six games in his nine seasons at USC.

Carroll’s experience upon his hiring came with a caveat. Time — and patience — for a rebuild were limited. A blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts in October proved the Raiders were far away from contender status, and Carroll voiced frustration in that.

“I’m processing it poorly, to tell you the truth,” Carroll said at the time. “Because I did expect to win right out of the chute.”

A Nov. 23 loss to the Cleveland Browns prompted Carroll to fire offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, whom the organization made the highest-paid OC in the league at the time of his offseason hiring. Tension in the Kelly-Carroll collaboration emerged as early as Week 2, when Carroll seemed to take issue with Kelly’s play calling. Notably, Kelly’s offense struggled to get 2024 first-round pick Ashton Jeanty involved in creative ways, and the rushing offense ranked last in the league because of it. Quarterback Geno Smith led the league with 17 interceptions and the 55 sacks he took tied for the league lead.

Now it will be up to Spytek and Brady to overhaul a franchise that has made just two playoff appearances since reaching the Super Bowl after the 2002 season. The Raiders haven’t won a playoff game since the 2002 AFC Championship Game.

Brady, whose ownership stake was approved in October 2024, has thus far mostly maintained an advisory role — at least publicly. But Monday’s announcement makes clear that he will play a big part in shaping the next Raiders regime, which is likely to select a quarterback with the No. 1 pick in the draft.