Raiders fire offensive coordinator
Chip Kelly after their latest rough performance
[November 24, 2025]
By MARK ANDERSON
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly
was fired Sunday night after yet another rough offensive
performance.
Kelly’s dismissal came less than four hours after the Raiders were
beaten 24-10 by Cleveland. Las Vegas allowed the Browns to sack Geno
Smith 10 times and fell to 2-9.
“I spoke with Chip Kelly earlier this evening and informed him of
his release as offensive coordinator of the Raiders,” coach Pete
Carroll said in a statement. “I would like to thank Chip for his
service and wish him all the best in the future.”
Carroll did not immediately name a new coordinator.
This is the second time he has fired a coordinator this month.
Special teams coordinator Tom McMahon was let go on Nov. 7, and
Derius Swinton II took over on an interim basis.
Kelly was the biggest-name assistant hired by Carroll, who's in his
first year coaching the Raiders after leading the Seattle Seahawks
for 14 seasons. He reportedly received a $6 million contract, the
highest for an NFL offensive coordinator, which helped entice him to
leave Ohio State, where he helped the Buckeyes win the national
championship as offensive coordinator last season.
But Kelly never lived up to the hype, nor the contract, and the
Raiders' offensive numbers bear that out.
Through Sunday's games, Las Vegas was tied for last in the NFL with
15 points per game, second worst with 3.54 yards per rush and 3.7
sacks allowed per game, third worst with 4.59 yards per play and
fifth worst with an 82.3 passer rating.
And Kelly's offense regressed as the season went on. The Raiders
scored 16 points or fewer in four of the past five games and 10
points or fewer in three of those.
Smith has thrown 13 interceptions, tied with Miami's Tua Tagovailoa
for the most in the league. Ashton Jeanty, drafted sixth overall
with the hopes of boosting the NFL's worst rushing game, has rushed
for 604 yards, averaging 3.6 per carry.
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Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly before an
NFL football game Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David
Zalubowski, File)
Many of those struggles can be traced to the
offensive line, which is missing injured starters Kolton Miller and
Jackson Powers-Johnson but has not performed well even when healthy.
The Raiders didn't make improving the line a major offseason
priority, and the two players they drafted in the third round, Caleb
Rogers and Charles Grant, have mostly remained spectators.
Las Vegas' two rookie receivers, Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr.,
haven't stepped up to fill the void left by Jakobi Meyers' trade to
Jacksonville.
How much of all that was Kelly's fault is debatable, but it's also
difficult to find evidence that his coaching elevated the offense.
He and Carroll were questioned about their game plan in Monday
night's 33-16 loss to Dallas, in which the Raiders called 32 pass
plays and three runs in the first half.
In a sign that Kelly's time with the Raiders was running out, fans
repeatedly booed the offense against the Browns. Las Vegas punted
eight times, turned it over on downs twice and lost a fumble.
Kelly went 46-7 in four seasons as the head coach at Oregon before
spending four years as an NFL head coach, three with Philadelphia
and one with San Francisco. He returned to the college ranks as
UCLA's coach from 2018-23 before spending last year at Ohio State as
a coordinator under Ryan Day.
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