Pete Carroll disputes report Chip Kelly botched Raiders play calls

Pete Carroll denies report that Chip Kelly was botching Raiders play calls

Raiders coach Pete Carroll has pushed back on a report that former offensive coordinator Chip Kelly repeatedly botched play calls during games before his recent firing.

Carroll insists there were no play-calling issues with Kelly, even as the Raiders’ struggling offense and philosophical differences led to a change at coordinator.

Carroll pushes back on play-calling criticism

Raiders coach Pete Carroll pushed back on a recent report that Chip Kelly’s time as offensive coordinator included some game-day gaffes.

“There is no truth to the comments about Chip and any play-calling issues,” Carroll told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday in a text message.

Kelly’s firing and offensive struggles

Kelly was fired Sunday after the Raiders fell to 2-9 and his offense managed to produce just 15 points per game.

Soon after his dismissal, reports surfaced indicating Kelly was botching play calls at times.

During an appearance on the “Rich Eisen Show,” Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network said: “I was told where Chip Kelly was repeatedly botching the play calls. He’s supposed to be, for instance, tagging a motion on a play so the receiver’s on the left, not the right. He forgets to say it, so Geno Smith’s going to the line of scrimmage and going ‘This doesn’t look right.’ There’s times where Chip, I was told, on several occasions called a play that was either not in the game plan or not installed at all.”

Carroll made it clear that those reports were not accurate.

Why the Raiders moved on from Kelly

At the core of Kelly’s dismissal was the Raiders’ minimal production, with the offense showing few signs of progress, and the ongoing differences between Carroll and Kelly on game planning that accentuated the Raiders’ strengths and mitigated their weaknesses.

“We worked for a long time trying to come together and communicating so it fits the style of play that we want to play with,” Carroll said. “And we didn’t quite get it.”

Carroll is hoping a change in offensive leadership will rectify those issues.

“It’s trying to get everybody connected with the approach and the philosophy that really I’ve stood for for a long time,” Carroll said. “And so, we gave our guys a lot of leeway because of with the respect we have for the coaches, but it just hasn’t quite gotten right, and I think we can do better.”

Greg Olson steps in as play caller

Kelly was replaced on an interim basis by Greg Olson, who was promoted from quarterbacks coach. Olson, now in his third stint as the Raiders’ play caller, will make his debut Sunday when the team plays at the Los Angeles Chargers.

Olson said the focus is on being more efficient rather than making sweeping changes.

“At this point, there’s not a lot that you would change in terms of how we’re calling things, terminology-wise. But there are things, tweaks that you can make, and certainly that we’re making to try and be more efficient, because we haven’t been efficient enough,” Olson said Thursday. “It goes through it back to a lot of different reasons as to why, but at this point with six games to go, we will make some tweaks, but there won’t be a lot of wholesale changes that you’ll see.”

Carroll’s expectations for the offense

Carroll said it’s a matter of doing things at a higher level, including protecting quarterback Geno Smith better.

“I’d love to see us be really clean with what we’re doing,” Carroll said. “Again, utilize our guys. Want to see just the tempo of everything to be where it’s supposed to be, and hopefully we can protect the quarterback so he has a chance and we’ll do that in a variety of ways. But I’d just like to see us cleaner, operate with an urgency that gives us a chance.”