Former Seattle Seahawks Pete Carroll and Geno Smith completely failed in their one season with the Las Vegas Raiders. But Carroll isn't letting Smith take the fall for a team that went 4-13 before both the head coach and player lost their jobs.
Carroll, as all 12s know, is a good person who stays positive even in times when it doesn't seem like he should. This isn't a false face, though. Carroll is seemingly this way every day, all day, and every single year. He is who he is.
Smith seemed to have quite the opposite personality. He appeared to be easy to anger, getting into a fight with a teammate with his first team, the New York Jets, and had moments of volatility on the field when he was the starting quarterback for the Seahawks. Still, Carroll and Smith found a way to get along so that the coach never lost faith in the QB.
Former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll still has Geno Smith's back
He still hasn't. Smith was going to be released after a season with Vegas, where he had 19 touchdown passes and a league-leading 17 interceptions. His quarterback rating was a dismal 84.7. Was that Smith's fault? Not according to Carroll.
The coach told ESPN, "He's a phenomenal quarterback, he really is...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."
As much as Pete Carroll is being the good guy in the situation, 12s know better, even if many didn't watch a down of the Raiders this past season. Geno Smith was becoming a diminished player with Seattle, the last season of which he played after Carroll had been removed from his coaching duties.
Even with offensive weapons such as Jaxon Smith-Njigba, DK Metcalf, and Kenneth Walker, Smith's offseason was horrible in the red zone, and the QB was a big reason why. He seemed to save his worst turnovers for exactly that time.
He had the same tendencies he had with Vegas in 2025. Smith held on to the ball too long, taking bad sacks, trusted his arm talent too much, and threw to receivers who were well covered, and he was indecisive on when to run when he had the opportunity.
Geno Smith has the skills to be a solid quarterback, and he made the Pro Bowl twice with the Seattle Seahawks, for what that is worth, but he isn't a good leader and will make too many mistakes. Pete Carroll believes the quarterback can once again turn his career around in 2026, only this time with Smith's new team, the New York Jets. Don't bet on that happening.