Raiders did it right in hiring Pete Carroll and John Spytek

LAS VEGAS — It’s not often we can say the Raiders did it the right way. But they did in opting to hire a general manager before they hired a head coach.

So maybe having Tom Brady’s influence is a good thing after all.

Now did the Raiders get it right in hiring John Spytek to oversee the football operational side of things going forward as general manager? And was the hiring of Pete Carroll on Friday to be the new head coach the right move?  

That remains to be seen. There’s a big difference between doing it right and getting it right. So let’s see what the coming months and year (years?) bring over at the Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson.

In Carroll, the Raiders are getting a coach who knows how to build a successful culture, someone who has a Super Bowl championship ring, a person who has learned how to win and has vast experience working the sideline as an NFL head coach.

Yes, he’s 73 years old and he’ll be 74 at the start of the 2025 season come September. But anyone who has been around Carroll will tell you this is a man who does not act his age. His energy figures to rub off on everyone he encounters. He’ll be the Bruce Springsteen of the NFL.

The former coach of the Seahawks never wanted to leave Seattle. He was forced to leave. So there’s going to be ample motivation for Carroll to want to succeed in Las Vegas. The players will love playing for him.

And as someone with vast head coaching experience, the Raiders have someone who can go head-to-head against the other coaches in the AFC West — Andy Reid in Kansas City, Jim Harbaugh in Los Angeles and Sean Payton in Denver. Las Vegas will no longer be overmatched on the sideline come game day.

Carroll reportedly has a three-year deal. That means he has a short runway to things around. Look for him to do what is necessary to accomplish his mission.

Part of that will be identifying, hiring and grooming someone to take over for him when he’s done. How many assistants on the current staff will be retained remains to be seen. But things are going to look and feel awfully different than they have been the last couple of years.

Here’s what we know about Spytek — he played the game at a high level (he was a linebacker at Michigan). He has spent 21 years in football ops as a scout, a VP of Player personnel and the last two as the assistant GM with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was with the Bucs when Brady led them to the title in Super Bowl LV in 2021. So he has experienced winning at its highest level.

He and Brady were teammates at Michigan. They were together in Tampa Bay. So if Mark Davis is handing the keys to the car to Brady which is what he appears to have done, Brady’s going to want to bring in someone he’s comfortable working with on a daily basis. So that’s going to help things considerably.

My guess is Carroll isn’t going to refer to the GM publicly as “Spytek,” unlike the previous coach who liked to refer to his GM by his last name.

Spytek will be the sixth different GM to guide the Raiders since Davis took over following his dad Al’s death in 2011. There was Reggie McKenzie and Mike Mayock, Dave Ziegler, Champ Kelly and Tom Telesco. All thought they had the right plan in place. All believed they had the required acumen to build a winning football team.

All came up short. Though Kelly’s stint was in the interim so it’s not fair to say he was a failure.

But Spytek will be charged with running a draft where the Raiders currently hold the No. 6 overall pick. He will have to find the right person to be the team’s starting quarterback, whether that comes in the draft or via free agency or perhaps through a trade. He’s got pending free agents with the Raiders and must decide who to keep and who to let walk.

And he’s going to have to be able to work closely with Carroll. He and Spytek better be on the same page. I’m pretty sure Brady ran Carroll’s name past Spytek and asked if he was comfortable with a 73-year-old who has been out of the NFL for a year as his head coach before he proceeded to hire Carroll.

Remember, Telesco had a wealth of experience in building a team. He drafted Justin Herbert to be the Chargers’ quarterback. But he was eventually let go in L.A. and he lasted only a year in Vegas. And that’s the problem with working in the NFL — or any major league sports team for that matter. This is a results-driven business. You’re only as good as your last victory or championship.

That said, the Raiders have talent. They even have some depth at some positions. It’s not the disastrous, impossible situation some believe it is. Yes, 4-13 isn’t good. In fact, it’s lousy. But the gap can be closed quickly by making the right personnel decisions. The Broncos showed it can be done with Payton as their head coach and Bo Nix as their quarterback.

If Spytek is as good a football person as the Raiders believe he is and he can make the right moves, maybe he can get this thing back on track. He’s worked with John Elway and Mike Holmgren, with John Harbaugh and Gary Kubiak. And he’s been around Brady, which might be the most important colleague of all since they are tasked with getting the Raiders out of the hole they currently reside in.

Carroll will win the press conference, whenever the Raiders decide to hold it. But the real winning will come in the weeks and months ahead as he attempts to change the culture. He did it in Seattle. And before that, at USC, where he still teaches a class.

Together, the hirings of Carroll and Spytek should have Raider fans everywhere feeling a little more optimistic about the future. Both have a track record of success at the game’s highest level. Both arrive in Las Vegas with something to prove.

Will it work? Check back in a year or two.