Three observations from the 2025 Raiders coaching staff

On Tuesday, the Las Vegas Raiders officially announced their coaching staff for the 2025 season.

Under first-year head coach Pete Carroll, the Raiders look mostly different from last year. While some staff remains from Antonio Pierce’s tenure, most of them have been replaced with people familiar with Carroll or other coaches brought along. Carroll’s philosophy will be the main one followed, but there are plenty of other influences to go around.

Looking over the new staff, here are three quick observations that can be made upon first glance.

Continuity matters

While the Raiders have struggled to maintain a sense of stability throughout the organization in recent years, the staff reflects the desire to change that.

Two of Carroll’s three coordinators are holdovers, with defensive coordinator Patrick Graham remaining in Las Vegas despite interest in other jobs across the league. Special teams coordinator Tom McMahon is also returning in 2025, as is the rest of his staff (assistant Derius Swinton II, quality control coach Kade Rannings). Other coaches returning to the Raiders include defensive line coach (and new run game coordinator) Rob Leonard, tight ends coach Luke Steckel and senior offensive assistant Joe Philbin.

Prior experience with the Raiders is also prevalent among this staff, with quite a few familiar faces returning to the organization.

Carroll’s longtime right-hand man Matt Capurro joined the Raiders as senior vice president of coaching operations, but he spent six seasons with the then-Oakland Raiders (2003-08) prior to that. Another Carroll assistant in Greg Olson is also back with the Raiders, as the former offensive coordinator is back for a third stint with the team as quarterbacks coach. Defensive passing game coordinator Joe Woods and defensive backs coach Marcus Robertson have also returned for their second stints with the team.

This staff already knows the roster or how the Raiders organization functions, which will be a major boost this season.

Making use of connections

During his introductory press conference, Carroll alluded to bringing assistants in that knew about his philosophy. The staff reveal proved that his words rang true.

Among the assistants joining Carroll are his two sons Brennan and Nate, who are serving as offensive line coach/run game coordinator and assistant quarterbacks coach, respectively. Carroll also tapped into his connections from his over decade-long tenure with the Seattle Seahawks. Five members of the staff (Capurro, Olson, assistant offensive line coach Andy Dickerson, quality control coach Kyle Fuller and linebackers coach John Glenn) are all reuniting with Carroll in Las Vegas.

The legendary head coach was not the only one who brought over a familiar coach along with them, however.

Woods and Robertson both come from the New Orleans Saints, where the former served as defensive coordinator while the latter was secondary coach. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly also made use of his year at Ohio State, bringing along new offensive assistant Sean Binckes for his first coaching job at the NFL level.

The Raiders are now hoping that all of these different philosophies can mesh together into a single coherent vision.

Jumping from college

As the Kelly hiring suggests, the Raiders were not afraid to bring people along who have only worked in the collegiate ranks.

The aforementioned Binckes is one of three coaches who are making the transition to the professional game for the first time. Former NFL offensive lineman Fuller is making his first run after spending last season at Appalachian State. Defensive quality control coach Behya Rasool and defensive assistant Rip Rowan are also making the leap, spending 2024 at Florida and Georgia Southern, respectively.

Some coaches are also making their returns to the NFL coaching ranks after dipping into college football.

Kelly is the most obvious of the group, spending time at UCLA and Ohio State before returning to the NFL with the Raiders. New running backs coach Deland McCullough spent three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs before working with the University of Indiana and Notre Dame. Assistant linebackers coach Ty McKenzie is also returning to the NFL, spending six seasons in the NFL (2017-22) before working with the University of North Carolina this past year.

The Raiders are hoping the collegiate experience can provide Carroll with some interesting new perspectives on how the game is evolving.