From rock bottom to top tier — Raiders’ coaching staff makes unprecedented leap in NFL rankings as Pete Carroll’s arrival and Chip Kelly’s offensive revival spark hopes of a Las Vegas renaissance - suong

Change is not only on the horizon for the Las Vegas Raiders, but it’s in full swing. The 2025 offseason has seen the organization be altered at multiple levels. Coming off a 4-13 campaign, it’s hard to argue against it.

Coaching and player personnel are two of the biggest examples of that. With Pete Carroll taking over as head coach, the expectation is to build a winner. Someone of Carroll’s age (73 years old) and stature (one losing season from 2012-2023) won’t wait around. The Raiders must turn things around quickly.

Luckily, Carroll and Co. seem to be the right pieces to help lead that effort. One prominent analyst believes so, at least. In an August 1 story for ESPN, Ben Solak ranked all 32 NFL coaching staffs. Las Vegas improved from 32nd last year to ninth this year – an unprecedented year-over-year leap.

Solak Confident in Chip Kelly’s Offense Leading Raiders to Improvement

Sure, going from dead last to a top-10 group takes more than one person. Carroll himself, who Solak referred to as one of football’s best “culture coaches” and an “underappreciated” schematic coach, takes the cake.

Still, Carroll’s assistants deserve some respect, writes Solak. On the offensive side of the ball, coordinator Chip Kelly is looking to rebuild his image. Solak thinks with Geno Smith at the helm at quarterback and rookie running back Ashton Jeanty in the fold, this could be a recipe for just that.

“I also have a huge amount of faith in Kelly,” Solak wrote. “An offensive coordinator role suits him better than the head coaching jobs (Eagles and 49ers) that overwhelmed him in the mid-2010s, as he won’t have control over personnel. Indeed, his offense over the past few years (in college at UCLA and Ohio State) has become far more oriented to heavier personnel and a diverse running game — the sort of stuff that’s cooking in the league right now.”

After flaming out a bit in the NFL, Kelly reinvented himself at the collegiate level from 2018-2024. That helped get him back in the NFL with Carroll. It won’t take much to improve an offense that ranked 23rd in scoring and 27th in yards two seasons ago and somehow got worse in the former category last year.

The aforementioned duo of Smith and Jeanty, in addition to tight end Brock Bowers and wideout Jakobi Meyers, offers promise. Kelly has a few ingredients to work with and only one direction to go: up.

Don’t Sleep on Patrick Graham’s Defense Entering 2025-26 Season

Despite not experiencing change from a coaching perspective, the Raiders’ defense might be just as intriguing. With Patrick Graham now entering year four on the job, the goal is to return closer to the unit’s 2023-24 form. In that season, Las Vegas ranked ninth in scoring and 15th in yards allowed. The scoring rank fell to 25th last year.

Despite that, Solak doesn’t seem one bit worried. He thinks Graham can overcome some roster turnover, even with star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins headlining that group.

“And finally, three words on Graham: good defensive coordinator,” Solak wrote. “The Raiders ranked second in defensive success rate down the back half of last season, behind only the Ravens and just above the Eagles. Of course, they’ve lost over 5,000 snaps from that unit in free agent departures, and now Christian Wilkins is off the team. But hey, Graham is a good defensive coordinator.”

Indeed, the Raiders did show more promise on defense down the stretch. According to rbsdm.com, they sat at 23rd in EPA/play from Weeks 1-9. That included poor marks for EPA/pass (26th) and EPA/rush (17th). After their bye week, they improved to 10th, 18th and eighth, respectively. Having a better offense should have some sort of impact on the opposite side of the ball. Players won’t be on the field as much and in-game context should shift significantly.

There’s a lot working in the Raiders’ favor right now. Even if the results don’t align, their process figures to improve thanks to the coaches at the forefront.