The legendary former Seattle Seahawks head coach has a new job.
Pete Carroll is back in the coaching ranks.
The former Seattle Seahawks head coach turned USC professor has been hired by the Las Vegas Raiders on a reported three-year deal with a fourth-year team option. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the big news on Friday.
There has been plenty of chatter regarding Carroll’s imminent return to the NFL. Carroll had interviewed for the Chicago Bears job in addition to the Raiders head coaching vacancy, plus the Dallas Cowboys had mulled the idea of bringing him on board.
The Raiders are coming off a 4-13 season and yet even a season that poor still only netted them the No. 6 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Unless Carroll and new general manager John Spytek—yes, Pete gets to work with another John S.—have a much higher opinion on Gardner Minshew II and/or Aidan O’Connell than others, expect a new quarterback in Las Vegas under Carroll. Whether the Raiders can actually land a QB in Round 1 is a different story.
Pete Carroll becomes oldest head coach hire in NFL history
We know that Pete is up there in age chronologically but you wouldn’t guess it based on his fiery and upbeat personality.
Carroll is not just going to be the oldest head coach in the NFL, a stat that NFL broadcasts repeatedly brought up during his final few years with the Seahawks, but at 73 years and 131 days old he’s also the oldest NFL head coach hire in league history. The previous mark was set by Romeo Crennel, who was also 73 years old when he was named interim head coach of the Houston Texans. No non-interim NFL head coach has ever been hired in his 70s.
The oldest non-interim head coach was George Halas, who finished his iconic coaching career with the Chicago Bears in 1967 at the age of 72.
The Pete Carroll vs. Jim Harbaugh rivalry has returned
They were rivals when Carroll coached USC and Harbaugh coached Stanford. They were rivals when Carroll led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship while Harbaugh didn’t win a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers. Harbaugh, who has a national title with Michigan, now coaches the Los Angeles Chargers. Carroll will see Jim twice a year in a division loaded with hugely successful head coaches.
The AFC West will have Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs), Sean Payton (Denver Broncos), Pete Carroll (Las Vegas Raiders), and Jim Harbaugh (Los Angeles Chargers) when next season starts. This division is actually respectable again thanks to the playoff berths of the Broncos and Chargers, so this could be a hell of a Battle Royale coming soon.
Will Pete Carroll face the Seahawks any time soon?
He might do so in 2025 if the preseason schedule pits Seattle against Vegas. Otherwise, as noted by Field Gulls’ John Tapia, the Seahawks don’t play the Raiders until 2026 in Las Vegas.