Apr 25, 2025; Henderson, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll at a news conference introducing Ashton Jeanty as the first round draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft at Intermountain Health Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images Candice Ward-Imagn Images

Revisiting Raiders' Pete Carroll’s Coaching Philosophy

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Fernando Alfaro-Donis | Last updated May 8, 2025 5:00 PM ET

The Las Vegas Raiders were in dire need of a culture change after they only won four games, and their outlook as an organization looked bleak. However, things began to shift once they hired Tom Brady as a minor owner of the team and gave him free rein to choose where the franchise would go.

They had plenty of capable head coaching candidates available, but Brady and the Raiders opted to select Pete Carroll, who hadn't coached in over a year due to his departure with the Seattle Seahawks.

Carroll was a slam dunk of a hire, and he, alongside John Spytek, has their work cut out for them if they want to change this franchise around, but they are setting themselves up in the future by establishing a good foundation and building a roster who may not be able to compete yet but have players who have interesting potential.

Carroll recently took part in an interview as part of Raiders.com's long-term video series titled Behind the Shield, which takes Raiders Nation behind the scenes and provides insight into what it means to run an organization of this scale. Carroll sounded off on what his coaching philosophy was and how he hopes to bring it to Las Vegas.

"The philosophy is really always compete. I'll use the competition word so much that people get sick of hearing me say it, but competing to me is defined as striving for excellence. It's not about trying to beat somebody and rub their nose in the dirt.

That's not it, it's about striving in everything that you're doing. You're trying to the best you possibly can be. That's the mentality that drives this program, so this competition is the central theme in our program. Our guys will hear it, and they'll know where we're coming from about that".

Carroll's first year of being the Raiders' head coach has been a success thus far, with by far the biggest win being them being able to draft Ashton Jeanty sixth overall. This is especially good for Carroll, as he's not afraid to run the ball if he has to. Carroll will lead them to a much improved record next season, and they may even be a sneaky playoff contender.

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This article first appeared on Las Vegas Raiders on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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