Long-time Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll has signed a three-year contract as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. Carroll spent 14 years in his head coach position in Seattle, helping lead them to 10 playoff wins, two Super Bowl appearances and their first-ever Super Bowl victory in 2014. The news was revealed by NFL Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero early on Jan. 25.
The long-time head coach took a year off from coaching after the Seahawks opted to go in a different direction for the 2024-2025 season. Seahawks General Manager John Schneider moved on from Carroll and brought in former Baltimore Ravens Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald to be the team’s head coach moving forward. During that time, Carroll had moved into a front office position with the team in a “Senior Advisor” role.
Now Carroll will be taking his head coaching talents to Sin City to attempt to turn around a franchise that has struggled to see success for years upon years. He is going into a situation with a team without an identity, and according to Rapoport and Pelissero, Carroll will be “Attempting to change the culture in Las Vegas.”
The high-energy 74-year-old head coach will be seen back on the sidelines running up and down the field hyping up his team and leading the charge. Carroll will also reclaim his title as the oldest current head coach in the National Football League (NFL).
As for a look at the Raiders roster, it has its major flaws. The quarterback position is one of them. It is difficult to compete with the best of the best in the NFL without a high-caliber quarterback leading the offense. That is exactly what the team is missing, and it remains unknown how the team will address that need. Whether it is in the 2025 NFL draft with pick number six of the draft, or if Carroll will be looking for a reunion with free agent Russell Wilson following their glory days in Seattle.
The foundations of this team may not be built out too much but there are two difference-makers on each side of the ball to build around. On the offensive end you have rookie Tight End Brock Bowers. In just his first year at the professional level, he was awarded NFL All-Pro First Team for breaking the record for most receiving yards in a season by a rookie tight end, surpassing Hall of Famer Mike Ditka.
The defensive star of the team is Defensive End Maxx Crosby. A top-tier pass rusher in the NFL that quarterbacks fear when they see him lining up across the line of scrimmage. In six seasons in the league, he has accumulated 59.5 sacks and been named second-team All-Pro in 2021, 2022 and 2023. A winning environment will need to start soon in Vegas, otherwise Crosby might be looking to take his talents elsewhere.
Carroll has work to do if he wants to turn the Raiders organization around. The team heads into its fifth straight season with a new head coach named to start the season as there has been a revolving door of head coaches in this spot before him. Will the 2014 Super Bowl winning head coach be the one to bring success to what has looked like a cursed team? We will see as Carroll will have three years to make that happen.
