The Las Vegas Raiders still seem to believe that head coach Pete Carroll can turn the team around. However, even if he does, he’s 74 years old, so the team can’t expect him to coach beyond the three-year contract he signed in the offseason.
There was talk of the Raiders hiring a young coach on the staff who they could groom to potentially be Carroll’s successor when he retires. Right now, there isn’t an obvious candidate on the staff who looks ready to be a head coach.
Things were almost different. The team was eyeing a possible successor in the offseason, but was turned down. Apparently, the Raiders really wanted to hire former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh to be their defensive coordinator, according to Mike Silver of The Athletic.
“Saleh was even more in demand last January as a potential defensive coordinator, but he made it clear that if he didn’t get a head coaching job, he was overwhelmingly partial to returning to the 49ers. That conviction held even when the Raiders, after hiring 73-year-old Pete Carroll, offered Saleh a record-breaking contract to become the team’s defensive coordinator, with the understanding that he’d be in line to succeed Carroll as head coach.”
Carroll & Saleh Have Worked Together Before
It likely wasn’t easy for Saleh to outright turn Carroll down. The two worked together when the former was a defensive quality control coach with the Seattle Seahawks from 2011 to 2013. That job helped springboard him to more important jobs.
Saleh ended up getting hired by the San Francisco 49ers, which is looking like the right decision. That team is a well-oiled machine, and with the way he’s having that defense play this season, he could get another head coaching job next year.
That’s better than him waiting until Carroll retires to be a head coach again. It would be interesting to see what Saleh could do with the Raiders’ defense. Patrick Graham is a well-regarded defensive coordinator, but he’s having a hard time winning with the personnel that he has.
Would Saleh Have Been Right Coach for Raiders?
If the Raiders thought Saleh had long-term upside as the head coach, they could’ve hired him in the offseason. He was a free agent and likely would’ve taken a head coaching job over a coordinator job, even if it wasn’t the most desirable head coaching job.
Saleh would’ve been a great choice at defensive coordinator. He may be better-suited to balance his own scheme with what Carroll likes to do than Graham. That said, it’s fair to question if he’d be the right head coach.
Saleh’s clearly a great defensive mind, but he just went 20-36 as the head coach of the Jets. Granted, it seems like the Jets have bigger issues than at head coach, but the Raiders might want somebody who didn’t fail at trying to turn around a struggling franchise.
While Carroll’s early days in the position haven’t looked good, he does have a track record for turning programs around. Saleh may have been a solid successor in the future, but he wasn’t the right coach for the team right now.
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