- The Las Vegas Raiders missed the season for the third straight season, finishing with a 4-13 record.
- They fired Antonio Pierce after one full season as the Raiders’ head coach after taking over after eight games in 2023.
- The Raiders have turned to Pete Carroll, who won Super Bowl 48 with Seattle, and the 2003 and 2004 national championships with USC.
The Las Vegas Raiders haven’t had much success since moving from Oakland to “Sin City”. They’ve missed the playoffs in four of five seasons since moving to Las Vegas, including the last three. The Raiders have gone through four head coaches during that time.
The Raiders are on to head coach #5 now, as they’ve come to an agreement with Pete Carroll to take over the head-coaching job, signing the Super Bowl and college-football champion to a three-year deal.
Carroll Last Coached in the NFL in 2023 After 14 Seasons in Seattle
Carroll’s deal was reported on January 24, 2025.
By the time his birthday rolls around on September 15, Carroll will be the oldest person to ever be a head coach in the NFL at 74. He stepped away from the Seattle Seahawks after 14 seasons, when Carroll made the playoffs 10 times, and had just three seasons under .500, two of which came in his first two seasons. Under Carroll, the Seahawks finished first in the NFC West five times, and second on another five occasions.
Their biggest success came in 2013, when the Seahawks used their “Legion of Boom” defense to overwhelm Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos by a score of 43-8. While Carroll is known as a defensive coach, he did have a hand in the progress of Russell Wilson. The quarterback was selected 75th overall by the Seahawks in the 2012 NFL Draft, and was the starter in Seattle until he left in 2021.
Carroll was also successful as a coach in college. He was at USC from 2001 to 2009, racking up a 97-19 record, and won national championships with the Trojans in 2003 and 2004. The Trojans finished in the top four of the rankings in seven of nine seasons under Carroll.
How Much Will Carroll Help the Raiders?
You probably won’t see the Raiders in any NFL playoff pick ‘em contests anytime soon. They might not be good for NFL same-game parlay contests until they sort out their quarterback situation. The Raiders will pick sixth in the 2025 NFL Draft. This means both of the top quarterbacks (Miami’s Cam Ward, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders) will likely be gone. There have been rumors that the Raiders are willing to trade up to get one of those two signal-callers. However, the top two in the draft in Tennessee and Cleveland, both have needs at quarterback.
Carroll to the Raiders probably doesn’t move their NFL betting lines that much right now, especially with Aiden O’Connell and Gardner Minshew under center. But Carroll is an experience coach who has seen it all at the college and NFL levels. He’s known as a player’s coach who relates to his team. He should be refreshed after sitting out a season, and Carroll has always been an energetic coach. It might not be a quick turnaround, but picking Carroll to lead the way could turn out to be a great move by the Raiders.
