The Las Vegas Raiders have completely turned around the direction of the franchise in just one offseason. Six months ago, Raider Nation was still reeling from the most disappointing season in recent memory, but owner Mark Davis and his hiring committee had just settled on a new head coach.
That person was Pete Carroll, who has already made a dramatic impact in Las Vegas. Not only did he have a hand in the acquisition of Geno Smith, a massive improvement at quarterback, but he built out an incredible coaching staff and left his fingerprints all over a universally respected draft class.
Most still believe that the Silver and Black have a long way to go if they want to truly compete, especially in a brutal AFC West division. However, Carroll, who has been to the mountaintop before, is the exact coach the Raiders need to get them there.
Pete Carroll guarantees success for Raiders in 2025
Training camp practices begin on Wednesday morning, so Carroll addressed the media in Las Vegas on Tuesday. It's fair to say that the veteran coach, who has 18 years of NFL head coaching experience under his belt, does not foresee a grace period for this Raiders team.
"We’re going to win a bunch of games. … I’ve been winning 10 games a year for 20 years," Carroll said. "I mean, what are my expectations? We’re going to win a bunch. And I don’t care, you know, who hears that. I mean, it doesn’t matter to me. It ain’t about what anybody hears. It’s about what we do."
This should be music to the ears of Raider Nation. The confidence is just pouring out of the team's new head coach, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore even noted that he's never heard another Raiders coach talk this boldly about the expectation of winning.
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While coaches like Jon Gruden, Josh McDaniels and Antonio Pierce certainly had the best intentions and said all of the right things as it pertains to winning, none of them had a track record quite like Carroll's. These are things only said by coaches who truly know what winning looks like.
It's hard not to get excited about this version of the Silver and Black, as the fan base is starved for success. This is a franchise that has not won a playoff game since 2004 and has only two postseason appearances in over two decades.
However, Carroll's energy and optimism are contagious for Raider Nation, and hopefully, for the players on the team as well. If this is the case, it should not be long until the Autumn Wind starts blowing in late winter.