Pete Carroll has officially been named the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. The Super Bowl-winning coach is the franchise’s third hire in the last four years; however, he is the first coach to be hired under the Raiders’ newly led ownership, manned by Tom Brady.
Carroll will be partnered with the newly acquired general manager, John Spytek, who finalized a five-year deal with Las Vegas to oversee the front office. Spytek has spent 21 years working in the NFL, with his past nine seasons as an assistant general manager to Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht. Spytek was also a University of Michigan teammate of Tom Brady.
A veteran for a rebuild?
Pete Carroll is the oldest coach on any NFL sideline since Romeo Cornell interned for the Houston Texans at age 73. Turning 74 in September, Carroll’s football resume brings years of success to a sputtering Las Vegas franchise.
Carroll is coming off a year during which he took a break from coaching but never left the game. After being the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks for 14 seasons, in 2024, Carroll took an advisory role within the organization.
Clearly still hungry for the NFL sidelines, Carroll will now take on the challenge of bringing similar success to the Raiders as he brought to the Seahawks. Over 14 seasons, the Seahawks went to the playoffs 10 times.
Pete Carroll may not be the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders for the next decade and beyond. But, the Raiders are looking for Carroll to be the head coach who can build and grow a new Raiders football culture that has not been found since moving to Las Vegas in 2020.
Why Pete?
Carroll’s name and newly hired Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson were tied to the Las Vegas coaching job early in the search process. Outside of Johnson, the Raiders interview list possessed zero offensive-minded coaches.
In a league where creative, aggressive, youthful offensive coordinators are in high demand for coaching positions. The Raiders may have felt that if the offensive play caller, who is looking to be a first-time head coach, is not named Ben Johnson, they would move in another direction.
Plenty of first-time head coach candidates are taking interviews across the league, such as Joe Brady of the Buffalo Bills, Kellen Moore of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Todd Monken of the Baltimore Ravens. Yet, the Raiders’ list of candidates featured defensive-minded, experienced head coaches on their radar.
Carroll headlined the list with Ron Rivera, Robert Selah, and Steve Spagnuolo. With a veteran presence and a historic background as an NFL head coach, the Raiders ultimately decided that Pete Carroll was the right fit at this point in their rebuild.
Carroll’s Case
The case for Pete Carroll as the next head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders is much simpler than some may think. The creator of the “Legion of Boom” will front-man a Raiders team whose best player is edge rusher Maxx Crosby and features a defense that will return Christian Wilkins.
General manager John Spytek will manage the free agent market, where the Raiders may consider re-signing secondary talent Nate Hobbs and Tre’Von Moehrig. With just under 93 million dollars worth of cap space, the Raiders will be picking sixth overall in the NFL draft, potentially a prime spot for Spytek and Carroll to agree on a highly talented shut-down cornerback in Will Johnson, from the University of Michigan.
While all eyes will still be fixated on the Raiders’ quarterback position, Carroll’s past success shows that he may be able to play to the Raiders’ strengths on the defensive side of the ball first before hopefully finding the team’s next franchise quarterback.
After all, Carroll was paired with Russell Wilson in his third year as Seattle’s head coach, not his first. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and surely overnight success will not come in Raider Nation, yet they have taken the first step towards a new culture of Raiders football in 2025.
