There's new leadership in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Raiders are a franchise trying to find success once again. Las Vegas has long struggled, going back to the team's time in Oakland. Pete Carroll is the new head coach tasked with fixing it.
Carroll is getting help from the team's general manager, John Spytek. Spytek is being honest about the difficulty of building a winning culture for the Raiders in the AFC West.
“We're not going to back down from any of the great teams in our division,” Spytek said, per ESPN. “We're going to build the best team we can and be out there on Sundays competing our asses off.”
The Raiders are in a division with the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers. Kansas City has dominated the division for the most part in recent years.
The Raiders finished the 2024 season with another losing record. Las Vegas fired coach Antonio Pierce after just one season. Pierce and the squad went just 4-13.
Pete Carroll must win right away with the Raiders
Carroll joined the franchise after sitting out of coaching for the 2024 season. The new Raiders head coach instead advised with the Seattle Seahawks, where he had also coached for years. Carroll won a Super Bowl in Seattle, but struggled there in his last few seasons at the helm.
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Spytek is also a new GM. He spent the last two years as an assistant general manager with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He worked on two teams that won Super Bowls. This includes in Tampa Bay, as well as Denver.
“Knowing that the relationship between the head coach and general manager is the most significant and impacting relationship, John and I have started off with a dedication to really collaborate in every way that we can bring out the best in both of us,” Carroll said at annual NFL meetings.
“I can already see us hitting it.”
That's music to the ears of Raiders fans. Las Vegas hasn't made the NFL playoffs as a franchise since 2021, and has just two postseason appearances since 2015. Raiders fans are restless for success.
“I have patience to get it right and I think we got the people,” team owner Mark Davis told reporters in February. “I'm really excited about it.”
The new franchise leadership gets its first chance to show what they can do in the NFL Draft. This year's draft starts on April 24. Las Vegas has the sixth overall selection.
