In the decade-plus that Pete Carroll was the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, the team had its longest run of success. Did things start to go down in his last few seasons? Sure, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he led Seattle to back-to-back Super Bowls.
One of the marks of Carroll's era was his consistent positivity. That turned some players off, like Richard Sherman, but it took a while to get there. At first, Sherman, just like nearly every other Seahawk, totally bought into what Carroll was selling.
The same is happening with the coach and his new team, the Las Vegas Raiders. According to Raiders insider Hondo Carpenter, one important piece of what Carroll does versus other coaches is that he treats the players like adults and human beings instead of simply football players.
Raiders insider says the one thing about Pete Carroll that all Seahawks fans already knew
This was exactly how the head coach did business in Seattle, too. It was one reason he was respected by his players and one reason the Seahawks were seen as a franchise that treated all of their employees well. It is one thing for a boss to tell his employees what to do, but it is another for a boss to make his employees feel included and an important part of the team.
Carpenter said, "And so now you have a team that is bought in. He has told this team what he is going to do, and he has done it. He has listened to captains, not always agreed with the captain, but when he does not, he does not blow them off...But he is treating them like the adults in the room that they are."
Carroll regressed from that attitude with the Seahawks. He did maintain the level of success he had in the mid-2010s, but that might have been impossible. It was time for Carroll to go when Seattle chose to move on from him after the 2023 season, as the team needed to have more of a forward-looking approach.
But the respect for Carroll, both from Seahawks fans and players, never went away. As a human being, no matter if football was involved or not, he treated people the correct way: With respect. He is doing the same thing with the Raiders.
Does that mean more wins for Las Vegas than they otherwise might have gotten with a different coach? Maybe. In 2010, Carroll's first team with Seattle, the Seahawks went 7-9 and made the playoffs. That shouldn't have happened, as Seattle's roster wasn't truly that good. Carroll made them better.
The same might happen with the Raiders. While Seahawks fans might not normally care if Las Vegas ever won any games, 2025 is different. There are likely many 12s who hope the Raiders do pretty well, but because of Pete Carroll the person instead of Pete Carroll the coach.
