As much as the Las Vegas Raiders needed a credible head coach, they also needed someone who could truly set a tone and forge a new culture. While he may not have been their No. 1 choice when the interview process started, the Raiders definitely got that tone setter in Pete Carroll.
Carroll spent last season out of football after a successful run as the Seattle Seahawks' head coach. And before that, he, of course, had a great run at the collegiate level at USC. You wouldn't know it by looking at him, or observing him on the practice field at OTAs, but he is the oldest head coach in the NFL, and in league history, as he approaches his 74th birthday in mid-September.
Carroll's energy level and apparent good health push the idea that he could coach as long as he wants to. But his age invites automatic wonder about how long he'll be the Raiders' head coach, with the full extent of that answer to come down the road.
The legendary Carroll also knew what he was getting into by taking the Raiders job. The franchise has not won a playoff game since the 2002 season, and the other three teams in the AFC West made the playoffs last year. Since Mark Davis took over as primary owner from his legendary father in 2011, things have been particularly dismal.
There's a lot (potentially) riding on Pete Carroll's tenure with the Raiders
Andrew Perloff, best known for his long run on "The Dan Patrick Show" and his current radio gig co-hosting "Maggie and Perloff" with Maggie Gray on the Infinity Sports Radio Network, has written a piece for Athlon Sports looking at seven reasons why Carroll needs to be successful with the Raiders.
The first reason is how his performance will affect the direction of the Raiders, with Carroll's history of turning things around pretty quickly as the launch point. USC won 11 games and the Orange Bowl in his second season, then the Trojans won back-to-back national titles. The Seahawks made the playoffs in his third year there before back-to-back trips to the Super Bowl.
"Carroll turned around a floundering USC program and a Seahawks franchise that was coming off a 5-11 season under Jim Mora Jr.," Perloff wrote. "The Raiders are in the same spot. They were 4-13 last season and haven’t won a playoff game since reaching the Super Bowl in ‘02."
Another reason that it is paramount for Carroll to succeed this season is for his mystique. This is in reference to his reputation as a motivator who fosters competitive environments and how the Raiders may test his relentless positivity if losing continues.
Perloff made reference to "older coaches" for his third reason. As in, if Carroll fails in Las Vegas it will be harder for coaches of similar age, like Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, to get looks from NFL teams.
Tom Brady's influence as a Raiders' minority owner is obvious, and he clearly had a voice in everything from hiring Carroll to which quarterback was taken on Day 3 of April's draft. As Perloff noted in pointing to "Tom Brady's genius" for No. 4 on his list, other big-name former players have failed in similar roles, and losing would wear on Brady as much as it would Carroll.
As previously mentioned, and referenced at No. 5 on Perloff's list, "Mark Davis' tenure" as the Raiders' owner has been awful, given his 91-137 regular season record. To his credit, he hired three credible football people this offseason, and he has been adamant that he will stay out of their way. Carroll's success or failure to set a winning culture will naturally reflect on Davis.
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Though he seems reinvigorated by the new regime, Maxx Crosby has definitely grown tired of losing. So, Perloff marking the Raiders' star edge rusher's legacy as No. 6 on his list of reasons Carroll has to be successful is absolutely appropriate.
The final point on Perloff's list is "Raider Nation's loyalty." He noted the undying loyalty of the team's fans while also wondering how much more losing, and all that goes with it, they can take if it continues under Carroll.
"Decades of losing hasn’t watered down the Raiders’ famous brand. They’re still at or near the top of every merchandising and sales list for gear. Part of that is because the logo is and always will be the coolest in the NFL," Perloff wrote. "It’s possible Carroll, combined with the Brady factor, could test fans in a way we haven’t seen. Expectations are higher than they’ve been in years. If two proven winners like Carroll and Brady can’t turn this around, at a certain point a chunk of fans could give up.""
"Raiders fans have endured a lot since they last won a Super Bowl in 1983, including multiple moves. They’ve always come back," Perloff pointed out. "Carroll better hope he turns things around quickly and doesn’t make the diehards start to wonder just how much more humiliation they can take."
For the first time in a long time, the Raiders have a head coach in place who knows what he's doing. Expectations for this year should be kept realistic, but there are some significant future implications based on what happens during Carroll's tenure in Las Vegas.