Raiders Need Pete Carroll to Do What He Does Best

Although the Las Vegas Raiders may or may not believe they are in a rebuild, they have made enough significant changes to confirm they are attempting to build a much better roster and organization than what has been the case recently.

Their record over the past few seasons may not show it, but Las Vegas is still one of the most respected franchises in the league.

They must now prove so on the field.

The Raiders have struggled in several areas over the past two seasons, mainly with the head coach and quarterback positions. The arrival of Carroll and Geno Smith should solve both of those problems.

Carroll's history of turning around struggling football teams should bode well for the Raiders. Following minicamp, Carroll explained how his coaching history has prepared him for the task at hand.

"When I was at New England, and was out the year after that, that was the year that really my life in football changed. I'd been coaching 27 years at that time. At that time, I really didn't know that I wanted to be a head coach; it just kind of happened, honestly. And I wasn't prepared well enough; I didn't have my philosophy together. I didn't have my approach nailed," Carroll said.

"And in that offseason, I had a moment where I figured it out. I needed to get my act together, and I don't need to tell you the story; you can figure it out, read about it somewhere else, but at that moment, everything shifted. And the next thing that happened, I went to USC. So, it was pretty dang significant, and it was really figuring out who I am, figuring out what my uncompromising principles are all about, figuring out how I wanted to treat the people, how I envisioned the organization coming together in all aspects.

"So, can you be a program builder, and can you learn how to do it? Yes, I did. But the essence of it is figuring out who you are and what you want to stand for, and how you going to deal with people that you would be dealing with in all levels, and it has to come from your heart. It has to be right, as authentic as it can possibly be, then you can withstand the questions and the challenges and the issues and concerns from a place that you can be true.

"And let me extend this thought, too, that it's extremely difficult for guys to be first-year coaches. It's extremely difficult. I got fired the first time, I got fired the second time, and it's because I didn't know what I was doing, and I didn't have my act together. And it wasn't that I wasn't wanting to be good and all that, I just hadn't been through enough. So, sometimes you've got to learn the hard way, and I hate learning the hard way. I always like the other guy to learn the hard way. But sometimes you've just got to go through it, and that's what took place."

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