The Las Vegas Raiders finally have their new head coach. The news dropped on Friday that Pete Carroll is joining the franchise. He's one of the most successful coaches ever but is 73 and needs to put together a strong coaching staff.
Carroll's track record of hiring assistants is a bit hit-or-miss. For every Dan Quinn, there's been a Shane Waldron. However, he's been around football for a long time and has no shortage of connections. We're going to go through who could be Carroll's offensive and defensive coordinators in Las Vegas.
Potential Offensive Coordinators
Darrell Bevell and Shane Waldron were two of the offensive coordinators Carroll had in Seattle and neither are currently offensive coordinators. Bevell is the quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator for the Miami Dolphins right now and Waldron is a free agent. That said, Carroll previously fired Bevell so it's unlikely he'll return to that well. Waldron was a complete disaster this season with Chicago so it's hard to imagine Tom Brady will sign off on that.
A name to watch could be Carroll's son Nate Carroll. He's the passing game coordinator for the Carolina Panthers and spent a decade coaching under his father in Seattle. He's never called plays so it would make more sense to have him fill a smaller role. His other son Brennan Carroll is the offensive coordinator at Washington and has playcalling experience. He could make the most sense at offensive coordinator for the Raiders.
Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith could also be interesting. He doesn't call plays and may want a promotion. He has no ties to Carroll but was the Raiders' tight end coach for three seasons.
Defensive Coordinator Candidates
Carroll's expertise is on the defensive side of the ball and he has a lot of connections. Gus Bradley, Ken Norton Jr. and Kris Richard are three coaches who were Carroll's defensive coordinators in Seattle and could be available. All three have connections to the Raiders. Norton and Bradley were previously defensive coordinators for the team and Richard briefly played for the team.
If Carroll wants to do something different on defense, he could look at Michigan defensive coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale. He's one of the best defensive minds in the NFL and was the Raiders' linebackers coach for five years. Ron Rivera interviewed for the head coaching job but could make sense as the defensive coordinator if he wants to stay in coaching.