Mar 14, 2026
3 min read
In his first interview since being fired by the Raiders, Pete Carroll told ESPN's Rich Cimini he sees upside in returning quarterback Geno Smith to the Jets.
Pete Carroll lives in Geno Smith's corner.
In his first interview since being fired by the Las Vegas Raiders, Carroll told ESPN's Rich Cimini that he sees positive results in the quarterback's return to the New York Jets.
"If he knows [New York] is a good place for him and he wants to do it, and he's part of the decision, then I'm not going to support him," Carroll said of Smith, who was traded this week.
It was a reunion for Smith, who spent his first four seasons with the Jets before taking a journeyman route to another starting opportunity.
"I had to laugh a little because of the history and everything," Carroll told Cimini.
After Carroll's rejuvenation in Seattle, Smith was traded to the Raiders last year but struggled behind a disastrous offensive line, recording 17 interceptions and 55 sacks.The former coach took the blame for the QB's struggles.
"He's a tremendous quarterback, he really is," Carroll said."He had a good season and pre-season with us, and he came to the first game, he had a good first game. Everything is right, it was the right time for us, then we were worried, we didn't do enough coaching.
"We should have prepared more events for him, and it wouldn't have happened," he continued."I take a lot of responsibility for that. We didn't prepare him enough in the offseason, even though he looked good and we felt like everything was in order. It was very disappointing for both of us."
Carroll specifically cited the offensive line issues that plagued Vegas last year as a reason why Smith struggled.
"We were killed, we were killed," Carroll said."Our offensive linemen up front, the last couple of years, we've been killed. We've had to improve that more than we did. It didn't happen in the draft, and it didn't happen in the offseason.
"We didn't go for this offseason. We need to buy a new line to give the player at least a chance to be more competitive. The only reason he was fired is because you tried to throw too much. Everything doesn't work and that's why you saw the change and everything."
The Jets got Smith on the cheap, and the Raiders are moving forward with presumptive No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza.It's an immediate upgrade under center Gang Green after a year of Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor and Brady Cook.The question for New York fans is, is this a great upgrade?Smith could help New York win, potentially costing them one of the top picks in the 2027 draft.
