The Las Vegas Raiders made the bold move this offseason to bring in a first-time general manager in John Spytek. Of course, his connection with minority owner Tom Brady helped him land the gig, but the team's bigger gamble was bringing in Pete Carroll as the next head coach.
For a franchise that needed to rebuild and find long-term answers, a coach who was turning 74 years old early in the 2025 NFL season seemed like an odd choice. But Carroll has already proven this offseason that he still has youthful energy and will stick around as the team finds its footing.
While most of the coaches hired during this coaching cycle were young, first-timers, Carroll was not the only retread head coach to land a new job ahead of this season. In fact, the other one will be on the opposite sideline when the Raiders take on the New England Patriots in Week 1.
Pete Carroll facing Mike Vrabel in battle of retread head coaches
This will be a pivotal battle for Carroll, as he must prove early on that he was the right hire. Because of Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel's ties to Brady, many thought he would be an option in Las Vegas as well. But the team settled on the Super Bowl-winning coach, who is also a proven culture builder.
Still, it would be nice for Carroll to start out his Raiders tenure by proving the ownership group right and taking down the other retread head coach hired this offseason. Vrabel is quite a bit younger than Carroll at just 50 years old, but the two are in similar situations.
Both are taking over for historic franchises that have struggled to find consistent success in the 2020s. Obviously, the Patriots have been good, and outright dominant, far more recently than the Raiders have. But their fans and organization are starved for success just the same.
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Veteran coaches often find success with new franchises, as evidenced by others in the AFC West like Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh and Sean Payton. Even coaches like Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan and Gary Kubiak all got fired or parted ways with teams before winning a Super Bowl with their new organizations.
One game will not determine either Carroll's or Vrabel's fate with their respective teams, but Sunday's game will go a long way in proving to either ownership group or fan base that the veteran coach still has it.
Vrabel's success with the Tennessee Titans pales in comparison to Carroll's with the Seattle Seahawks. But all of that is water under the bridge, as these two coaches will be going at it on Sunday with a bit more than just a win on the line.