Agent Calls Out Raiders 'Nepotism' with Carroll's Son, Reveals Players-Only Meetings

The Las Vegas Raiders' 3-14 record speaks for itself in terms of how the 2025 season unfolded, and things might've been even worse off the field.

ESPN's Kalyn Kahler and Ryan McFadden detailed Tuesday what was "another failed year than continued dysfunction symptomatic of an impatient owner, a misaligned front office and coaching staff, and players who lost respect for their coaches."

Head coach Pete Carroll hired sons Brennan (offensive line coach) and Nate (assistant quarterbacks coach) for his staff. While both had worked elsewhere, one agent of a Raiders player asserted there was "some sort of nepotism going on."

"The agent also said his client said that Brennan Carroll rushed players through individual drills at practice and didn't teach them what they were trying to achieve in specific drills," per Kahler and McFadden.

According to the report, Raiders offensive linemen took it upon themselves to schedule their own meetings with quarterback Geno Smith and running back Ashton Jeanty outside of practice in order to better understand what was needed within the scheme.

"It was that bad," one agent said. "They were meeting on their own and trying to figure it out together, which I have never heard of in my history of working in this league."

Another agent pointed to Brennan's family connection as a complicating factor.

"This offensive line coach is the biggest issue with this team," they told Kahler and McFadden. "Everybody knows and nobody talks about it because it's Pete's son. Everyone talks about it behind the scenes, no one talks about it publicly."

Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who got fired after a Week 12 loss to the Cleveland Browns, was singled out in the ESPN report, too.

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At the time of Kelly's ouster, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport pointed to "the lack of cohesion in the coaching offices." Rival coaches believed the Raiders offense bore the hallmarks of Carroll more so than Kelly.

Kahler and McFadden shared more insight and reported "Kelly's practice installs didn't work, players didn't buy into what he was trying to do, and some were confused about the plays he was running."

It's tough to envision how Carroll's tenure could've unfolded in more disastrous fashion.

The 74-year-old was clearly a short-term fix in the best-case scenario. The hope was that he might build the kind of culture and long-term foundation that helped set the Seattle Seahawks up for so much success.

Instead, the Raiders extended their playoff drought to four years and tied their franchise record for most defeats. Carroll also left the franchise worse than he found it thanks to all of the internal dysfunction.

Las Vegas' futility at least resulted in the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, but there isn't a quarterback in the class who's generally considered a can't-miss prospect.

The Raiders might be parting ways with their best player as well after defensive end Maxx Crosby disagreed with the decision to shut him down for the final two games.

Whoever takes over for Carroll will have a lot of damage to repair.