New minority owner Tom Brady’s Super Bowl-winning resume couldn’t help the Las Vegas Raiders land highly touted Ben Johnson as the club’s new head coach. Brady could, however, end up attracting a friend Super Bowl champion in Sin City, with former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll now considered the Raiders’ top target for their vacant head coaching job, according to The Athletic.
Carroll, who was born and raised on the West Coast, knows Brady well, having led the Seahawks against Brady’s New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX at the end of 2014 NFL season. The former also landed his previous job in Seattle thanks in part to the endorsement of Jed Hughes, the search firm strategist currently working with the Raiders on their search, according to The Athletic.
Carroll, 73, spent 14 seasons as coach of the Seahawks from 2010 to 2023, leading Seattle to 10 playoff appearances, including two Super Bowl bids. He left that position before this season in favor of Mike Macdonald, taking an advisory role within the Seahawks front office, but has repeatedly expressed interest in returning to the sidelines. Carroll also spent three seasons as coach of the Patriots from 1997 to 1999, before the arrival of Brady and Bill Belichick in 2000, and coached at USC from 2001 to 2009.
Carroll’s 170 career victories rank 17th all-time NFL coaches, and his 11 playoff wins rank 12th.