The Las Vegas Raiders made a flurry of moves in the 2025 offseason to reset their roster. With a vacancy at head coach and uncertainty under center, Las Vegas pulled out all the stops, trading for former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith and tabbing Pete Carroll to take over as head coach.
With Carroll coaching Smith in Seattle, the former familiarity and the quarterback’s overall positive play the past few seasons seemed like surefire decisions as bridge options for a rebuilding Raiders franchise.
However, Smith looked like a shell of himself as Carroll fielded bottom-tier offensive and defensive units. The 74-year-old was relieved of his duties on Monday after the conclusion of Week 18, with the Raiders now set to begin their search for a new head coach.
Candidates to Replace Las Vegas Raiders HC Pete Carroll
Here are five options the Raiders could turn to after Carroll’s departure:
5) Kliff Kingsbury, OC, Washington Commanders
Kliff Kingsbury was known for some rigid tendencies with the Arizona Cardinals, but has shown more flexibility during his first season as the Washington Commanders’ offensive coordinator.
For example, Kingsbury has varied his personnel usage. With the Cardinals, Kingsbury leaned heavily into his wide receivers. Arizona used the eighth-highest rate of 3+ WR sets (69.4%) and the highest rate of 4+ WR sets (17.1%). The 2024 Commanders rank 19th in 3+ WR sets (60.1%) and instead have the 12th-highest rate of 2+ TE sets (33.7%). They’ve only run six plays the entire season with 4+ WRs on the field.
Despite the 5-12 season, most of the Commanders’ issues in 2025 were due to the sheer number of injuries. Despite that, Kingsbury had his quarterbacks prepped and ready to go every week, whether it was Jayden Daniels, Marcus Mariota, or Josh Johnson. With the Raiders getting the first overall pick, Las Vegas could be a good destination for Kingsbury to kick off a new head coaching chapter.
4) Joe Brady, OC, Buffalo Bills
Joe Brady has been deemed a future NFL head coach since 2019, when he won the Broyles Award as the best assistant coach in college football. Then, LSU’s wide receivers coach during their championship run, overseeing Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase, Brady has grown significantly since transitioning to the NFL level.
A rocky stint as the offensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers dimmed his shine, but Brady has helped Josh Allen secure an MVP and elevate his game even further. The Bills placed fourth in Offense+ and scored the second-most points in the NFL during the 2024 season. The Bills fielded another top-ten offense in 2025, scoring an 84.5 in PFSN’s Offense Impact metric, ranking sixth in the NFL.
3) Klint Kubiak, OC, Seattle Seahawks
Kubiak may not stay long in Seattle, and for good reason. The Seahawks’ offensive coordinator, hired this past offseason, has already transformed their offense into one of the most efficient in the league. He builds his scheme on the run, making life easier for his quarterback, and that strategy has paid off with Sam Darnold this season.
Kubiak’s play-action scheme is highly effective and could be precisely what the Raiders need with a 2026 first overall pick and running back Ashton Jeanty at Kubiak’s disposal in Las Vegas.
2) Mike McCarthy, Free Agent
Mike McCarthy went 49-35 in five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, but won just seven games in 2024, failing to meet expectations. Dallas went 12-5 in McCarthy’s second, third, and fourth seasons but earned no more than one playoff win in those three appearances. Jerry Jones ultimately decided not to renew McCarthy’s deal.
The NFL is a game of inches, and during the McCarthy era, the Cowboys could play those tight spots. Since 2020, Dallas has ranked fifth in winning percentage in one-score games (record: 22-16). Those regular-season numbers didn’t carry over to the postseason (0-2 in one-score games). The Raiders lost five games this season by one score.
With the margins so thin, winning the final 15 minutes can often shift the fortunes of a team in any given season. During McCarthy’s tenure in Dallas, the Cowboys posted the second-best fourth-quarter point differential (+153, trailing only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
The teams that end the game strong are often those that have great attention to detail and excel at adjusting as the game progresses. Those are traits any team would love to have and something that McCarthy’s teams have done consistently (the Green Bay Packers also ranked eighth during his time in town).
1) Brian Flores, DC, Minnesota Vikings
Flores is a schematic problem solver. Tasked with revamping a Minnesota Vikings defense that was light on talent in 2023, the former Miami Dolphins head coach made it work.
According to TruMedia, he sent blitzes (49.3%) and dropped eight into coverage (20.8%) at league-high rates while guiding a defense that somehow finished 11th in DVOA.
In all three stops as the defensive play-caller or head coach, Flores improved the defense:
- Flores took over as the New England Patriots’ defensive play-caller in 2018 following the departure of Matt Patricia and saw New England jump from 27th in EPA per play to seventh.
- Flores’ Dolphins defense ranked 30th in EPA per play in his first season in 2019, but it jumped to fourth in 2020 and finished sixth in 2021.
- Flores’ Vikings defense ranked 20th in EPA per play in his first season as defensive coordinator in 2023, but ranked second in 2024.
Unlike many members of Bill Belichick’s coaching staff, Flores has shown the ability to adapt his scheme to his current surroundings. For example, the Patriots traditionally played high levels of man coverage, a strategy that Flores brought to the Dolphins. Miami played the highest level of man coverage in the NFL (50%) during Flores’ head-coaching tenure from 2019-21.
However, the Vikings have played man coverage at the fourth-lowest rate (18%) during Flores’ two seasons in Minnesota. He’s managed to turn man coverage into a compelling change-up pitch without relying on it, as the Vikings average the second-highest EPA per play in man coverage since 2023.
Flores’ teams in Miami displayed highly disciplined play, with penalties, held the ninth-best turnover differential, and forced the fourth-most turnovers from 2020 to 2021. The Raiders committed 103 penalties in 2025.
