The Las Vegas Raiders have a combined record of 12-22 over the past two seasons. The Seattle Seahawks had a combined record of 9-23 the two seasons prior to hiring Pete Carroll. He went 7-9 his first two seasons in Seattle, including winning the division his first season at the helm.
Although the AFC West is a different animal now than the NFC West was over a decade ago, the Raiders still hope Carroll can help spark a similar turnaround in Las Vegas.
After going 7-9 his first two seasons in Seattle, Carroll won 10 games eight of the next nine seasons, with playoff appearances each time. The one season in that span the Seahawks did not win 10 games, they won nine, solidifying Carroll as one of the league’s best coaches.
Carroll spoke at the NFL owners’ meetings about his experiences doing so, and what he learned during his decades around the game. The veteran coach aims to build the Raiders back to being a competitive team.
“So, can you be a program builder, and can you learn how to do it? Yes, I did. But the essence of it is figuring out who you are and what you want to stand for, and how you going to deal with people that you would be dealing with in all levels, and it has to come from your heart. It has to be right, as authentic as it can possibly be, then you can withstand the questions and the challenges and the issues and concerns from a place that you can be true,” Carroll said.
“And let me extend this thought too, that it’s extremely difficult for guys to be first year coaches. It’s extremely difficult. I got fired the first time, I got fired the second time, and it’s because I didn’t know what I was doing, I didn’t have my act together. And it wasn’t that I wasn’t wanting to be good and all that, I just hadn’t been through enough. So, sometimes you’ve got to learn the hard way, and I hate learning the hard way. I always like the other guy to learn the hard way. But sometimes you’ve just got to go through it.”
