The Las Vegas Raiders brought in Pete Carroll and John Spytek this offseason to reset the culture and rebuild the roster ahead of the 2025 NFL season. With nearly a full year to assess the pair, only Spytek has held up his end of the bargain by adding young talent and striking several flexible deals.
Carroll is all but officially fired at this point, as one game separates the Raiders from the end of this miserable year. Spytek's job security, however, is fully intact, as his connection with minority owner Tom Brady is strong and he has earned the right to stay anyway.
Spytek, Brady and owner Mark Davis will soon be putting their heads together to decide who exactly they'll tab to replace Carroll. While the 74-year-old does not want to leave Las Vegas for any reason, especially knowing it'll be his last head coach job, some replacements would sting more than others.
Raiders could lean on connections and hire Chargers DC Jesse Minter as next HC
On Friday, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer reported some rumblings that he is hearing about the upcoming coaching cycle. As it pertained to the Raiders, Breer believes that a Michigan connection to Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter could land him in Las Vegas.
"The next steps will be interesting, with Tom Brady likely to have a big voice, alongside GM John Spytek, on what the franchise looks for," Breer wrote. "Brady and Spytek’s Michigan connection to Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, especially given the success of Mike Macdonald in Seattle (Minter and Macdonald worked in Baltimore together, and Minter succeeded Macdonald at Michigan), are worth noting."
Of course, Brady and Spytek's relationship is predicated on their meeting on the Michigan football team in the 1990s. Minter, who is a hot name in this coaching cycle after two strong years in Los Angeles, was Michigan's defensive coordinator for two years under Jim Harbaugh.
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That is where the sting comes in for Carroll. In this scenario, not only would Harbaugh, his bitter rival for decades, blow him out in two Raiders-Chargers games this season, but Minter, his protégé, would supplant Carroll in Las Vegas and close the book on his head coaching career.
As Breer mentioned, this already happened to Carroll. Mike Macdonald, the current Seahawks coach, learned under Harbaugh at Michigan before eventually taking Carroll's post in Seattle. It would be brutal for another limb of the Harbaugh coaching tree to kick Carroll to the curb.
Las Vegas is surely looking at what occurred in Seattle as a solid blueprint: Fire Carroll and take a former Michigan defensive coordinator and Harbaugh understudy as head coach. Maybe the Raiders would be atop their conference in just two years as well!
Obviously, it is hard to draw parallel lines in the NFL, but these two situations seem quite similar. There are good coaching trees to pick fruit from, and the Harbaugh tree is certainly one of them. It may be invigorating for Carroll, but the Raiders have to do what is best for the Raiders. That may be Minter.
Brady also never wanted Carroll or Geno Smith, as it is well-reported that he was in on Ben Johnson and Matthew Stafford. For Brady to lean on his Michigan connections and, for the second time in three years, replace Carroll with a Harbaugh disciple, would be a bitter end for the veteran coach.