Don’t tell Pete Carroll the Las Vegas Raiders are supposed to be rebuilding.
The Raiders coach, who at 73 years old is by far the oldest coach in the NFL, stated his intent to “win a bunch” with Las Vegas at his press availability Tuesday.
The Raiders have finished under .500 in three straight seasons, bottoming out at 4-13 in 2024 which netted them the No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Still, Carroll finished above .500 in 11 of his final 12 seasons coaching the Seattle Seahawks. He was hired by the Raiders this off-season.
Why Does Pete Carroll Think The Raiders Will ‘Win A Bunch?’
Like most football people, Carroll is confident in himself and what he intends to bring to the desert.
âWe gotta win a ton,” Carroll said. “Iâve been winning 10 games a year for 20 years now. Weâre gonna win a bunch and I donât care who hears that.â
Carroll may be exaggerating slightly but not by much. The veteran coach started his tenure with the New York Jets and New England Patriots, and despite how his tenure is remembered in Greater Boston, he went 27-21 and made the playoffs twice in three years before he was fired.
Carroll has only finished below .500 in four of his 18 seasons as an NFL coach. Consider also his 97-19 record at USC, and Carroll seems to have only ever known success as a head coach.
“I’m staying true of what we know and what has been successful for us,” Carroll said. “Everything is always adapting to some extent, but the expectations and standards are going to be as high as we can set them.”
Raiders fans, a notoriously superstitious lot, may cringe at Carroll’s bold proclamation. But the ultra-positive head coach is not concerned with jinxes and instead prefers to stay positive.
“It ain’t about what anybody hears,” Carroll said. “It’s about what we do, and that’s why expectations are really high. The standards need to be so that expectations can be met.
“I wish I could guarantee it, but I can’t even think of what [expectations] could be if not really successful.”
Can The Raiders Meet Pete Carroll’s Expectations?
The Raiders play in the most difficult division in football, since all three of their AFC West rivals reached the playoffs in 2024. The Kansas City Chiefs of course are the three-time reigning AFC champions, who have won the Super Bowl twice in that span.
Along with talent, the division also boasts insane coaching pedigree. Three of the four coaches have won the Super Bowl, and the fourth is Jim Harbaugh of the Los Angeles Chargers, who coached the San Francisco 49ers to the championship game and is one year removed from winning the national championship at the University of Michigan.
So whether the Raiders ultimately live up to Carroll’s expectations could depend on how he can motivate their roster. ESPN ranked the Raiders the No. 23-best roster in the league, talent-wise, by far the worst in the division and No. 11 among AFC teams.
Still, the Raiders’ have the 15th-easiest schedule, which makes the road a little bit easier for Carroll and Co. in his first year.
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