Why the Raiders May Have Made the Best HC Hire of Them All

After years of instability, the Las Vegas Raiders hired Pete Carroll as the team's next head coach. Did they get it right?

Jan 27, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek (left) and coach Pete Carroll at press conference at Intermountain Health Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

For most of the past few seasons, the Las Vegas Raiders have had instability at a few of the most pivotal positions on a team. Over that time frame, the Raiders have had arguably one of the worst groups of quarterbacks in the league. They have also had multiple head coaches who were not fully equipped for the position.

After years of futility at both positions, the Raiders appear primed to address the head coach and quarterback positions finally. Las Vegas hired Pete Carroll as their next head coach, and it is widely assumed that they are interested in adding a quarterback via free agency or the upcoming NFL Draft. However, Carroll's arrival has sparked hope that the Raiders may be headed in the right direction.

Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated graded each of the offseason's coaching hires and gave the Raiders a B- grade for hiring Carroll. It may not seem like the best grade, but considering how much the Raiders have struggled at the head coaching position over the past four or five seasons, a respectable grade for a Raiders head coach is more than acceptable. Las Vegas now needs to do all they can to give Carroll more to work with than they gave their last coaching staff.

"The Raiders went from in on Ben Johnson and prepared to make a generous financial offer to arriving at a decision on a general manager that kept Johnson in Chicago," Orr said. "If John Spytek is great as GM, then missing out on a theoretical chance to hire a promising coordinator doesn’t matter. The Raiders ended up going with Pete Carroll, and I’ll have to temper my excitement here because I am prone to overrating staffs that are full of coaches I have a great deal of respect for.

"On paper, I absolutely love the lineup of Carroll as a tone-setting, vibe-crafting head coach, Chip Kelly as the CEO of the offense, and Patrick Graham, perennially one of the most underrated defensive coordinators in the NFL. I’ve been talking about Kelly’s second act in the NFL throughout the winter with his national championship performance at Ohio State standing out as a culmination of his evolution."

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