The Las Vegas Raiders have had their fair share of growing pain over the past few seasons, as inexperience cost them dearly. Las Vegas hired head coach Pete Carroll, as his experience is what they have desperately needed over the past three seasons. They hope he can right the ship.
However, Carroll and the Raiders will have an uphill battle this upcoming season, as their roster still needs many additions. They have made a handful of additions this offseason, but none were big enough moves to make a significant impact.
The Raiders still need to make more moves this offseason. The upcoming NFL Draft will allow them to do so, but the Raiders' turnaround will likely take more than one offseason. This is where Carroll's value cannot be overstated, as the Raiders will lean on his wisdom over the next season.
Although the Raiders' current situation is far from ideal, Carroll has experience as a head coach in situations where the odds were against him. His first two head coaching positions were in the National Football League.
Carroll's first two head coaching positions came with the New England Patriots and New York Jets. He was abruptly fired from both positions after only coaching the Patriots for one season and the Jets for three seasons.
At the NFL owners' meetings, Carroll explained how his two first head coaching jobs in the league helped mold him as a coach.
"Yeah, I think that's what living is. I think that's what life is all about. Doesn't matter where you come from or what you do. As you go through your life, you experience stuff, and then you have pitfalls and suffering, and you have to bounce back and come back and continue to discover and uncover what you're all about. And I think that's what life is," Carroll said.
"And so, the stuff we're doing, there isn't anything special about what we're doing, we're just living with them and helping them. But I do feel like you can accelerate the process by helping people go through the steps that they have to take for the self-discovery that's necessary. It's going to happen anyway, but we'd like to think we can coach it along and capture it a little bit earlier than others."
