[7] Carlisle started promisingly with his new club, breaking straight into the first team, but his season was ended prematurely with a broken leg suffered against Tamworth.
[9] He broke back into the Exeter City first team, was offered an extended contract,[10] and was involved in their promotion to the Football League in 2008, scoring in both of the play-off semi-final games against local rivals Torquay United.
Carlisle signed a six-month contract with Torquay United at the start of the 2010–11 season but in January 2011 took the decision to retire from professional football to pursue a career in player development at Ivybridge Community College, Devon.
[12] On 4 March 2011, Carlisle signed for Southern Premier League side Truro City, but his spell there was short lived and in May 2011 he retired from playing football altogether to focus on a career in coaching.
During the 2014-15 season, however, he came out of retirement to play twice for Truro City in the Southern League Premier Division; he also made one appearance in the FA Cup for the club.
[18] Following Taylor's sacking in November 2023, Carlisle formed a three-man interim management team with Dan Green and Scott Brown.
[21] In February 2024, Carlisle joined former club Bristol Rovers as Individual Player Development Coach, once again supporting Matt Taylor.