Pete Carroll, Las Vegas Raiders WILL Be Playoff Contenders

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Pete Carroll attends a news conference after Raiders mandatory minicamp on June 12, 2025.

When the news broke on January 24, 2025 that the Las Vegas Raiders had hired Pete Carroll as their new head coach, the vast majority of Raiders fans were over the moon about the hire. 

Carroll has a decorated history of winning at every level of football, including college football national championships and a Super Bowl.

Since being hired, Carroll has helped facilitate splashy moves for several of the hottest names in football including hiring new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, trading for new quarterback Geno Smith, and drafting new running back Ashton Jeanty. 

But, coming off a 4-13 season in 2024 and especially amidst the toughest division in football in the AFC West, Raiders fans are unsure how their team will perform in 2025. 

One insider, however, is very confident that the Raiders will be excellent in 2025. 

In an article released on Tuesday June 24, 2025 called “Ranking New NFL Head Coaches Based on Possibility of Success in Year 1”, expert NFL scout Brent Sobleski named Pete Caroll the second most likely new head coach to have a successful 2025 season, and also predicted the Raiders would have a sparkling 10-7 record on the year. 

“Pete Carroll wasn’t hired as the oldest head coach in NFL history for the Las Vegas Raiders to rebuild,” Sobleski wrote. “Just win, baby, and now.”

Sobleski also credited the acquisition of Smith as a big reason to be confident in the Raiders in 2025. 

Carroll’s Postseason Track Record 

The Seattle Seahawks were known for being a franchise consistently in the playoffs since the mid-2010s under Pete Carroll. But what is Carroll’s track record with making the playoffs in his seasons as an NFL Head Coach? 

Carroll was the Head Coach of the Seahawks for 14 seasons, from 2010-2023. He made the playoffs in 10 of those 14 seasons. 

He only made the Super Bowl twice in that stretch and won it once, defeating the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, but Seattle was a near-constant fixture in the first few rounds of the playoffs. 

A fact that Raiders fans may be most interested in is that Carroll did also make the playoffs in his first season in Seattle. They were able to squeak into the Wild Card round despite only a 7-9 record, but once there, they defeated the New Orleans Saints to advance to the Divisional Round where they lost to the Chicago Bears. 

Carroll’s only other season as an NFL coach, back in 1994 with the New York Jets, saw him miss the playoffs with a 6-10 record after starting the season 6-5. 

Raiders’ Strength of Schedule May Allow For a Playoff Run 

The Raiders have a middle-of-the-pack strength of schedule on paper. They are tied for the 16th most difficult strength of schedule based on their opponents’ 2024 winning percentage.

But the Raiders are in a unique position in that the difficulty of their strength of schedule is heavily impacted by their divisional rivalries. 

The other three teams in the AFC West, the Kansas City Chiefs (15-2), Los Angeles Chargers (11-6) and Broncos (10-7) were all playoff teams with very good records in 2024. The Raiders have to play them all twice this upcoming season. 

But outside of the AFC West, the Raiders are looking at a lot of winnable games. The Raiders only have three other games against playoff teams in 2025, against the Washington Commanders, Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles. 

That leaves seven games against teams who were honestly very weak in 2024: the New England Patriots, Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, and New York Giants.

If the Raiders can take care of business in those games, win just two divisional games and one of the other three games against a 2024 playoff team from outside their division, then they’re looking at 10-7 just like Sobleski predicted. 

But what do Raiders fans think? Can they make a triumphant return to the playoffs in 2025?