Former Seahawks OC Linked to Pete Carroll, Raiders

Pete Carroll may be bringing former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell with him to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Connor Benintendi | Jan 26, 2025

Aug 7, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) talks with head coach Pete Carroll (left) and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell (right) during the game against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. / Chris Humphreys-Imagn Images

In this story:

Seattle Seahawks

If the idea of Pete Carroll reuniting with former Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks wasn't strange enough, he might also be bringing a former infamous coordinator to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Darrell Bevell, currently the Miami Dolphins quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, has a "strong chance" to be the Raiders' next offensive coordinator under Carroll, per The Athletic's Tashan Reed.

Other candidates are still being interviewed, per Reed, but Bevell is firmly in the competition to become Carroll's first offensive coordinator in Las Vegas.

Bevell was Seattle's offensive coordinator during their Super Bowl appearances in 2013 and 2014 and was in the role from 2011-17. He was fired following the 2017-18 season after seven seasons with the team.

Despite a long tenure with the team, Bevell is mostly blamed for the play call that lost Super Bowl XLIX against the New England Patriots. Instead of riding running back Marshawn Lynch's hot hand, Bevell opted to throw the ball at the 1-yard line and it was intercepted, sealing the game in the Patriots' favor.

Both Bevell and Carroll took the blame for the call at the time. But in September, Carroll and Lynch reconnected on the Politickin' podcast with California Governor Gavin Newson, NFL agent Doug Hendrickson and the former Seahawks running back.

Carroll candidly discussed the decision, and the fallout from it.

"It was huge, but you had to deal with it … and I had to be the leader, and I had to stand up for it and take the hit and take it as my call and the whole thing. And I was willing to do that for everybody else," Carroll said. "[Lynch] was pissed at me, and the fellas were pissed at me."

According to Carroll, the play-calling process was the same on that play that it had been all season: from coordinator to quarterback. But Carroll still tried to maintain responsibility.

“We did it the way we always did. There’s defensive coordinators, there’s offensive coordinators, they call the stuff, we play the game,” Carroll said. “I’m responsible for every call that was ever made.”

Regardless of where the blame should lie, it's unexpected Bevell has emerged as a leading candidate for the Raiders' offensive coordinator job after how things went in Seattle. But then again, Bevell maintained his role with the Seahawks for three seasons after the team lost that Super Bowl.

Bevell has since been an offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions (2019-20) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2021), but never for more than two seasons with either franchise. He was an interim head coach in both stops after the Lions fired Matt Patricia in 2020 and the Jaguars fired Urban Meyer in 2021.

Now, Bevell has been in his current role assisting Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for the last three seasons.

If Carroll brings Bevell and quarterback Russell Wilson — an unrestricted free agent — to Las Vegas, it would truly be a Seattle reunion with the Raiders.