After finishing with a 4-13 record in 2024, the Las Vegas Raiders fired head coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco. After hiring former Buccaneers GM John Spytek for their general manager position, Tom Brady and the Raiders’ focus is now directed to their empty head coaching position.
While nothing is finalized yet, one name appears to be gaining the most traction in recent days for the Raiders head coach opening. Unlike many of the other recent hirings, the Raiders are tied to someone with extensive head coaching experience.
Pete Carroll: A Name To Watch for the Raiders’ Head Coaching Job?
Super Bowl champion Pete Carroll is reportedly a name to watch for the Raiders head coach opening. Carroll has had success on both the collegiate and NFL levels, winning a national championship with USC and a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. Hiring a coach with as much success as Carroll could be a way to establish a winning culture in Las Vegas.
Pete Carroll to Raiders is generating a lot of buzz, per @JamesPalmerTV 👀 pic.twitter.com/zvqmHysod9
— Underdog NFL (@Underdog__NFL) January 23, 2025
“Yes, the buzz is real, and it’s only building, to my understanding, after the hiring of Spytek,” James Palmer of Underdog said. “The perception of Pete Carroll is he is not a 73-year-old in the NFL. He acts and carries himself much younger.”
At 73, Carroll would provide Las Vegas with plenty of experience. He is a member of the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and has a record of 170-120-1 in the NFL. After mutually agreeing to step down from the Seattle head coaching job with the organization, Carroll appears to be recharged and getting back into the daily grind of coaching at the NFL level.
Brady knows that “Carroll brings the ability to build a culture and connect with people with big personalities,” Palmer said.
In the modern NFL, this has become a key trait for NFL coaches, as the age of social media and the continued rising salary cap space have led to an increase in outwardly big personalities.
What the Raiders Outlook Would Look Like for Carroll
The Raiders have the second-most cap space in the NFL, according to Over the Cap, with $92,522,914. In addition to the cap space, the Raiders possess the sixth-overall pick in the current 2025 NFL Draft order, a second-round pick, and two third-round picks.
Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins should serve as the building blocks on the defensive side of the ball, while Brock Bowers, Jakobi Meyers, Kolton Miller, and Jackson Powers-Johnson figure to serve as key pieces for the Las Vegas offense for years to come.
READ MORE: What Happened to Carroll? Revisiting the Long-Time Seahawks Head Coach’s Career
With the NFL Draft capital and cap space, the Raiders have the flexibility to add an influx of talent to their roster and give Carroll, or whoever they hire, additional pieces to help create a winning culture.
While the quarterback position remains a huge question mark for the organization, locking down an experienced coach such as Carroll would be huge for the Raiders and allow them to truly shift their focus to building the best roster possible for 2025 and beyond.