Pete Carroll's lone season in Las Vegas ended the way almost nobody in Raider Nation expected when he was hired with so much fanfare: with the worst record in the entire NFL. The fallout was swift. Carroll was relieved of his duties as head coach, closing the book on a tenure that lasted just one year.

Building the new staff

General manager John Spytek stayed on, and the Raiders turned to Klint Kubiak to lead the rebuild as head coach for the 2026 season. Kubiak wasted little time assembling his staff: Andrew Janocko was brought in to call plays as offensive coordinator, Rob Leonard takes over as defensive coordinator, Mike McCoy joins as assistant head coach, and Joe DeCamillis will run special teams. Matt Capurro steps in as senior vice president of coaching operations, rounding out a near-total overhaul of the building.

What changes in 2026

The most obvious shift is at quarterback, where the Raiders moved on from Geno Smith and handed the keys to No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza (more on that below). But the bigger story is philosophical: after a season that bottomed out under Carroll, Kubiak's staff is being asked to establish an identity from scratch on both sides of the ball, with a retooled offensive line and a defense now running through Leonard's scheme.

Raider Nation has heard "new era" talk before, more than once. What's different this time is how much roster and staff turnover came with it. Whether that adds up to real progress will start to show itself once the pads come on for real in September.