Raiders appoints Pete Carroll, The Raiders have decided to appoint another highly successful 73-year-old as their head coach.
The Las Vegas Raiders have reached an agreement to hire highly successful 73-year-old as their new head coach, according to a source familiar with the decision who spoke to The Associated Press on Friday.
He and the team have agreed in principle to a three-year contract with a one-year team option, though the deal has yet to be finalized, the source said on condition of anonymity.
At 73, Hereturns to coaching after a 14-year tenure with the Seattle Seahawks, where he led the franchise to two NFC championships and its only Super Bowl title. He will become the NFL’s oldest head coach next season, surpassing 66-year-old Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs.
“He’s got a ton of energy,” former Patriots and North Carolina coach Bill Belichick said on The Pat McAfee Show. “Look at some of the coaches in the league like Andy Reid—he’s not doing too bad.”
He takes over a Raiders franchise that includes Tom Brady as a minority owner. Ironically, Brady played a key role in one of Carroll’s most memorable defeats when his Patriots beat Seattle in the Super Bowl a decade ago, thanks to Malcolm Butler’s game-sealing interception at the goal line.
Brady is believed to have had significant influence in the hiring process, as well as the selection of new general manager John Spytek, who previously served as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ assistant GM.
He replaces Antonio Pierce, who was fired after a 4-13 record in his first full season. Pierce had gone 5-4 as interim coach in 2023 after replacing Josh McDaniels. Raiders appoints Pete Carroll
He will be the Raiders’ 14th head coach since Jon Gruden was traded to Tampa Bay in 2002 and the fifth since the team relocated to Las Vegas in 2020. Despite the franchise’s storied history, which includes three Super Bowl championships, the Raiders have only made the playoffs twice since their 2002 Super Bowl appearance, losing in the wild-card round both times.
Carroll faces the challenge of rebuilding a team in a highly competitive AFC West, where each franchise now has a head coach who has led a team to the Super Bowl. The division also boasts established quarterbacks like Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, Los Angeles’ Justin Herbert, and Denver’s Bo Nix. Good News: The Raiders have decided to appoint another highly successful 73-year-old as their head coach.
A major question for Carroll will be the quarterback position. The Raiders hold the sixth overall pick in the upcoming draft but may not be in position to select top prospects such as Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders or Miami’s Cam Ward unless they trade up. The free-agent quarterback market is also limited, meaning the team could opt to stick with Aidan O’Connell as the starter.
Even if the Raiders don’t secure a top-tier quarterback, they are projected to have nearly $100 million in salary-cap space, according to Over The Cap, giving them significant flexibility to strengthen the rest of the roster.
Carroll’s coaching career began in the NFL with the New York Jets in 1994, where he posted a 6-10 record. He later coached the New England Patriots from 1997 to 1999, finishing with a 27-21 record. After a successful nine-year stint at USC, where he won two national championships, he joined the Seahawks in 2010 and led them to sustained success.
Overall, Carroll holds a 170-120-1 record as an NFL head coach. With this latest opportunity, he joins Bill Parcells and Marty Schottenheimer as only the third head coach since 1940 to lead at least four different teams.
