Raiders HC Pete Carroll is Staying True to Himself

In his return to the National Football League after a season away, Pete Carroll plans to do things the way he always has. The Las Vegas Raiders should develop into a better organization because of it.

Jul 24, 2025; Henderson, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll during training camp at the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders hired Pete Carroll as their head coach partially because of his proven way of leading successful teams. More specifically, Carroll has turned around multiple teams in college football and the National Football League that were struggling prior to his arrival.

The Raiders need Carroll to do both of those things.

Carroll made it well known from the time he took over as the Raiders' head coach that competition would be a central theme of his time with the team. With the regular season just weeks away, the Raiders have witnessed Carroll remain true to his way of doing things.

"I'm always looking for more competition, but it is apparent that in all different phases of our team, we have guys that are battling to push to get their spots. And we're trying to give them opportunities with the higher group to show that they can match up and all that. And it's exactly what this program is all about. So the more competitive we can make it, the longer it can keep the competitiveness alive," Carroll said.

"We don't need to make any big decisions right away. We'll take our time at it and let it continue to factor in. Guys coming into the program, and a new guy comes in today, [Terrell] Edmunds comes in today, guys take note of that. They know that we're still looking, we're still trying to get this as competitive as we could possibly get. So we'll be pushing that way forever, but right now it's really apparent." 

The Raiders will have a joint practice against the San Francisco 49ers this week before the two teams face each other in a preseason game on Saturday. Las Vegas hopes its time with the 49ers will help it take another step in its development before the start of the regular season.

Las Vegas must correct the mistakes made in its first preseason game and continue to move forward. Carroll believes the Raiders still have many areas they can improve.

Aug 7, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Las Vegas Raiders running back Chris Collier (35) carries the ball against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

"Oh, there's stuff, first, for us to improve on all aspects of our ball. Those guys did get a good look because we wanted to really have a lot of film on them, and so it's a good first step. I thought Jordan [Meredith] was in command of what was going on in a difficult situation," Carroll said.

"We wanted to see how far he could go with handling the noise and the silent counts and all that kind of stuff. And he really did a good job of that. But we're not ready to make any declaration on anything. We've just got to keep on working."

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