Pete Carroll is widely considered to be one of the greatest football coaches of all time. He has won titles at both the collegiate and NFL levels, and his 170 wins in the NFL are tied with highly regarded head coaches like Sean Payton, Mike Shanahan, and Tom Coughlin for the 17th-most all-time.
Despite his immense success leading the Seattle Seahawks, his coaching career appeared to be over when he agreed to mutually part ways with the franchise following the 2023 season. The Las Vegas Raiders had different plans, however, as they hired the 73-year-old coach this offseason.
In addition to consistently leading teams to play winning football, Carroll has received plenty of praise for his ability to discover defensive gems, particularly in the secondary. He recently praised Raiders cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly, who is looking like he could be the next such player to fit that bill.
Raiders rising cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly praised by Pete Carroll
Kelly has been one of the standouts during training camp, as he has drawn rave reviews from both Raiders coaches and the media. However, he has played just 32 defensive snaps over the first two years of his career and is currently listed as a third-stringer.
Many have suggested that he has the opportunity to earn a starting role in Week 1, and Carroll seems to be a fan of his. Carroll praised the training camp star following Thursday's joint practice with the San Francisco 49ers.
"I'm glad you noticed it because I'm noticing it, too. He's had plays every day for about the last five or six days out here. Mock Game Two, he's just been really active. Seems like he's really settling in, and his aggressive style of play has really shown up," Carroll said. "So, I'm fired up for him. If you've noticed, I don't know if it happened today, but yesterday, he got work with the ones just to see how he fits in and all of that. Just a great example of a guy competing his butt off and trying to make a statement."
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Carroll added that Kelly has embraced the competition and shown that he deserves more of an opportunity. It is unclear just how much of an opportunity he will receive when the season begins, but he is situating himself nicely.
The former fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft figures to earn plenty of playing time in Week 2 of the preseason against the 49ers, so that may give the team and fan base an even better indication of where he is.
Kelly is currently listed behind Darnay Holmes, Darien Porter, Eric Stokes, Greedy Vance, Decamerion Richardson and JT Woods on the Raiders depth chart. None of those players, however, has secured a starting spot, leaving the door wide open for him to quickly ascend ahead of the season opener.