The Las Vegas Raiders have struggled to find their identity in recent seasons.
Antonio Pierce tried to bring back "The Raider Way" in his season and a half as the team's head coach, but his experiment ultimately failed when he was fired after a 4-13 campaign in 2024.
Things just haven't felt the same for many in Raider Nation since the team relocated from Oakland to Las Vegas, but new head coach Pete Carroll said at the NFL Combine that the team was going to hold training camp back in Napa at Redwood Middle School again.
Rich Gannon, former Raiders quarterback and 2002 NFL MVP, was thrilled with the announcement:
Pleased to hear @Raiders are heading back to Napa Valley for training camp... Good idea!!!
— Rich Gannon (@RichGannon12) February 26, 2025
Last offseason, coach Pierce decided to move training camp from the team facility in Henderson, Nevada to the Jack Hammett Sports Complex in Costa Mesa, California. Unfortunately, being in Southern California ruffled some feathers with the Los Angeles-based NFL teams and the Raiders were unable to have fans in attendance or advertise their being there.
Although the news is not confirmed, all signs indicate that the team will be back in their training camp home of 25 years in Napa, California before next season. Adam Hill from the Las Vegas Review-Journal pointed out a peculiar phenomenon regarding hotel room prices in Napa during training camp.
Fwiw, you can book the hotel the Raiders use in Napa during the dates of training camp but the prices would indicate something is going on there https://t.co/4GzraX3qaZ pic.twitter.com/D0YsBAYbYQ
— Adam Hill (@AdamHillLVRJ) February 26, 2025
Coincidentally enough, Raiders star tight end Brock Bowers is from the city of Napa and attended Napa High School from 2017-2021. Not only would having camp in northern California be a welcomed decision by the large Raiders following in the Bay Area, but it would be a homecoming for one of the team's best players.