LAS VEGAS -- The Raiders have finally made their move, hiring the one and only Pete Carroll to a three-year deal to become the new head coach.
Carroll is set to become the oldest acting head coach in NFL history when he turns 74 this September, surpassing Romeo Crennel who served as the Texans' interim head coach in 2020 at the age of 73. Carroll will be two years older than the legendary George Halas at the time of his retirement, though “Papa Bear” spent 47 years as the head man in Chicago.
The 74-year-old will be tasked with rebuilding the culture in a locker room that just endured a nightmarish 4-13 season. The Raiders have made just one playoff appearance since relocating from Oakland in 2020 and the franchise hasn’t won in the postseason since the 2003 AFC Championship game.
17 days before that fateful Raiders win, Pete Carroll and a freshman QB by the name of Matt Leinart led USC to a 38-17 win over Brad Banks and Iowa in the 2003 Orange Bowl.
Carroll went 97-19 with a pair of national titles at USC before moving on to coach the Seahawks in 2009. It only took a few seasons in Seattle to establish the Super Bowl winning “Legion of Boom”. Carroll went 137-89-1 during his 14 seasons with the Seahawks but was forced out after missing the playoffs at 9-8 in 2023.
Carroll’s first experience as an NFL head coach was a one-off with the Jets in 1994 and he was notably Bill Belichick’s predecessor as coach of the New England Patriots from 1997-99.
Carroll’s hiring will also re-establish one of the sport’s great coaching rivalries, as he’ll now get at least two cracks at his dear friend Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers each season in the AFC West.
Their rivalry began with an exchange of words at midfield after Stanford’s 55-21 drubbing of the Trojans in 2009 and continued with a handful of classic battles between Carroll’s Seahawks and Harbaugh’s 49ers in the early 2010s.
After all, who could forget the 49ers trying Richard Sherman with a sorry receiver like Michael Crabtree?