Pete Carroll wishes results would’ve been better last season, his only campaign with the Las Vegas Raiders. Fired in January after a 14-loss spiral, Carroll broke his silence this week and spoke highly of quarterback Geno Smith, shouldering the blame for the veteran’s struggles while taking aim at the franchise’s front office.
Smith was traded to the New York Jets this week for a pair of late-round selections with the Raiders pushing forward at quarterback in prep for Francisco Mendoza at No. 1 overall in the upcoming draft.
“He’s a phenomenal quarterback, he really is,” Carroll said. “He had a fantastic offseason and preseason with us, and he comes out in the first game, has a great first game. It was all fitting. It was exactly the right time for us. Then we just faltered and faltered. We didn’t do well enough, coaching.
“We should’ve had him better prepared for the things that happened, and that wouldn’t have happened. I take a lot of responsibility in that. We didn’t prepare him well enough in the offseason even though he looked great and we felt we had everything lined up. It was very, very disappointing for us both.”
Smith was sacked 55 times last season and his 17 interceptions were the most since his rookie campaign in 2013. Only the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Chargers allowed more sacks than the Raiders, who drafted two offensive linemen last cycle and only signed guard Alex Cappa in free agency. Cappa, who made eight starts, was released last week.
Pro Football Focus graded Las Vegas as the 28th-best pass-blocking unit and the 30th-best run-blocking unit last season. Carroll put the onus on Las Vegas’ front office for not improving the team in the trenches offensively.
“We got killed, we got killed,” Carroll said. “Our offensive guys up front, from the last couple of years, we got murdered. We needed to upgrade that more than we did. It didn’t happen in the draft, and it didn’t happen in the offseason.
“We didn’t go for it in the offseason. We needed to buy a new line to give the guys a chance to at least be more competitive. The only reason you get sacked that much is because you try to throw it too much. The whole thing didn’t quite work out and what’s why you saw a change and all that.”
The Raiders hired former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak in February after the Super Bowl. Carroll will be keeping up with Smith this season with the Jets, which is where the quarterback previously played the first four seasons of his career.
New York struggled at the position last season, benching Justin Fields after nine starts before similar inconsistent outings from Tyrod Taylor and Brady Cook.
“If he figured out [New York] was a good place for him and he wanted to do it, and he was part of the decision, then I couldn’t support him more,” Carroll said. “If he saw the reasoning and felt the support and the opportunity, I couldn’t be in more favor of it. I love the guy and want the very best for him. He deserves it. He worked really hard to get where he is.”
