Where Raiders HC Pete Carroll Ranks Among New Coaches

Brooks ranked Carroll as the fifth-best coach out of the seven new head coaches around the league.

Pete Carroll's Edge

"Armed with an old-school blueprint that has helped him build championship teams on the professional and collegiate levels, Carroll will follow the script with the Silver and Black, a four-win team last season," Brooks said.

"Despite playing in a division with a trio of 2024 playoff participants, the Raiders should be much more competitive with Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback Geno Smith leaning on an unstoppable tight end (second-year pro Brock Bowers) and a supremely talented RB1 with takeover ability (No. 6 overall pick ). Las Vegas has some holes on the other side of the ball, but is a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, and the unit added a number of experienced veterans in the offseason.

Brooks noted the Raiders will have a much different approach this season under Carroll. Las Vegas aims to change everything from their culture off the field to the way they do things on the field.

"As a team built around a run-centric approach with the intent of forcing opponents to play in tightly contested games, the Raiders’ ability to win one-score games could determine whether they can hover around .500 in Carroll’s debut season," Brooks said.

The day before the Raiders kicked off training camp, Carroll addressed this subject directly. As a coach who has experienced tremendous success in the National Football League and college football, Carroll has always been considered a winner.

“Oh, we are going to win a ton. We are going to win a bunch of games. I can't even imagine anything else. I've been winning 10 games a year for 20 years or something, you know? I mean, what are my expectations? We are going to win a bunch, and I don't care who hears that. It doesn't matter to me," Carroll said.

"It ain't about what anybody hears. It's about what we do. And so, that's why expectations are really high. The standards need to be, so that the expectations can be met. We'll see what happens. I wish I could guarantee it to you, but I can't even think of what else it could be, other than being really successful.” 

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