Maxx Crosby was sold on Pete Carroll after their initial encounter when the head coach was in Las Vegas interviewing for the Raiders position.
“I was talking about his suit,” Crosby recalled. “I was like, ‘Hey, you might need to get a little bit smaller suit. That one might be outdated.’ And he’s not the one that’s going to stand down from that. He came right back at me and was talking (expletive), and I’m like, ‘Yeah, this is my type of guy.’ Those are the tough coaches you love that they’re not too sensitive anything like that. Coach (Pete) Carroll is all about that.”
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Carroll’s already put his imprint on the Raiders since the franchise named him head coach in January. Raiders players have lauded the 73-year-old’s energy and lively practices, which is even more impressive considering Carroll is entering his 31st season in the NFL.
“He’s super energetic. I don’t know how he does it, but like the guy wakes up, like it seems like he just pops out of bed, man,” Raiders quarterback Geno Smith said of Carroll last week. “He’s just fired up as soon as he wakes up. And I mean he brings the juice every single day. When you have a leader like that at the helm, you have no choice but to fall in line. And so all of us as leaders on the team, and every single guy on the team, we’re following coach’s lead, and he’s doing a great job of leading us.’
Carroll’s registered nine seasons of at least 10 wins in his head coaching career and coached the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl 48 title. The veteran head coach is confident he can impart similar amounts of success to the Raiders. He already declared this offseason the Raiders are going to “win a bunch of games” on the heels of Las Vegas coming off a 4-13 campaign.
Carroll can insert his name as a coach of the year candidate if the Raiders win “a bunch of games” in 2025. The Raiders haven’t recorded a winning season since 2021 and reside in an AFC West division that’s arguably the toughest division in football with a who’s who list of head coaches.
‘Isn’t that something? Yeah, I think it’s great,” Carroll said when asked about coaching against Sean Payton, Andy Reid and Jim Harbaugh in the AFC West. “If you’re going to be any good, you got to beat the best teams. You have to beat them, and so if this division is loaded with that, then that’s what’s going to make us what we are. And going against Andy (Reid) and Sean (Payton) and Jimmy (Jim Harbaugh) down there, it couldn’t be any more challenging because these guys are terrific football coaches, and they’re going to have a complete team.”
Reid, Payton and Harbaugh led their teams to the postseason while the Raiders were on the outside looking in last year. Carroll and the Raiders face an uphill battle as they attempt to get back into postseason contention. But Crosby, Smith, tight end Brock Bowers and first-round pick running back Ashton Jeanty are players Carroll can build around. And one thing Carroll’s proved this offseason is he’s ready for the challenge ahead.