Former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll made history in Raiders debut

When the Las Vegas Raiders hired legendary Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll to be their new leader back in January, some fans and pundits definitely raised some eyebrows.

Not because of Carroll's resume, oh no. In his 14 years leading the Seahawks, Carroll went 137-89-1 in the regular season, made 10 playoff appearances with five NFC West titles, and of course, won Super Bowl XLVIII to give the franchise its first championship. He's one of the most-accomplished coaches of this era, and should have a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day.

No, the reason for the skepticism was almost entirely due to Carroll's age, as he turns 74 next week. That makes him the oldest coach in the NFL (again, he already was when he left the Seahawks after the 2023 season), and by a significant margin, too. For comparison, the next-oldest coach in the league is Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs at 67 years old.

However, it seems an old dog can indeed learn new tricks. In his return to the sideline on Sunday, Carroll led his Raiders to a 20-13 road win over the New England Patriots thanks to a strong defensive performance in the second half, and made some history in the process.

Pete Carroll becomes oldest NFL coach to ever win game

Sep 7, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll in the first half against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

According to CBS Sports, Carroll became the oldest coach to ever win an NFL game Sunday at 73 years, 357 days old. The record previously belonged to Romeo Crennell, who was 73 years, 162 days old when his Houston Texans (he was an interim coach) defeated the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day in 2020.

Despite the major accomplishment, Carroll kept things focused on the team after the game.

"Good win. Really important first day for us to get off and come from behind and win the game in the second half and believe the whole way through that we were going to find a way," Carroll told reporters. "Defense did a tremendous job in the second half to hold them down, getting off the field on the third downs and all of that, just playing tough as heck. And, really excited for our guys. We've worked really hard to get to this point, and to get in that locker room and have that kind of fun and cheer on one another and all that."

Carroll has a lot of work ahead of him if he wants to turn around the Raiders, who went 4-13 last season as all three of their AFC West rivals made the playoffs. However, he's certainly off to a good start.

Pete Carroll becomes oldest NFL coach to ever win game

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