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Paul Gutierrez
HENDERSON, Nev. — The first time Pete Carroll and John Spytek crossed paths?
Super Bowl XLVIII, in 2014.
“I was working for the Broncos,” Spytek said, referencing Carroll then being head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. “And we got our faces caved in. I told him, when we first talked, I was still sore from that.”
There will be plenty more time for talking — and healing — now that Spytek and Carroll have joined forces with the Las Vegas Raiders. Spytek, 44, is a first-time general manager and Carroll, 73, is the Raiders’ fifth coach, counting interims, since 2021.
Spytek and Carroll were introduced Monday in a news conference at the team facility attended by current players such as defensive end Maxx Crosby and left tackle Kolton Miller, and former Seahawks and Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, who led a hearty “Raiders!” chant in the middle of the presser.
“Oh, man, I think it’s a perfect mesh opportunity for us to show you how important it is for this relationship to be at the tip of the spear for our program,” Carroll said of working with a new GM in Spytek.
“His background, his mentality, his devotion to character and football and the game [show] a respect for what it takes to make this thing strong, right? It has just hit me right in my heart, so I’m thrilled about sharing the years and the experience with the energy and the juice that he brings, and so it’s going to work out great.”
Carroll, the winningest coach in Seahawks history at 137-89-1 over 14 seasons, along with that 43-8 drubbing of Denver in the Super Bowl, also won a pair of national championships at USC.
Spytek, most recently the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ assistant general manager, began his NFL career as an operations intern with the Detroit Lions in 2004 before working as a player personnel intern with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2005. He worked for the Cleveland Browns and Broncos before joining the Buccaneers as director of player personnel in 2016, getting promoted to vice president of player personnel in 2021 and then to assistant GM in 2023.
“My first order of business is going to begin with Coach here,” Spytek said. “We’re going to talk more about the kind of player we want, what it looks like at every position, the kind of person we want to meet … both of us will continue to talk about that.
“What does it mean to be a Raider? What are the qualities that we’re going to stand for? What are the qualities that everybody that comes into this building is going to stand for? I take that very personally and very seriously as a responsibility of mine … what our character will be, will be our faith, in a sense.”
Carroll, meanwhile, took the 2024 season off in the NFL, serving in an advisory role for Seattle while watching his grandson play high school football and his son Brennan call offensive plays in college at Washington.
The break rejuvenated him, Carroll said, and it felt familiar. The last time Carroll took a year off, in 2000 after being fired by the New England Patriots, he found his coaching “philosophy and approach” that led to the breakthrough at USC.
“It’s never been about accomplishments,” Carroll said. “I’ve never been about that. It’s about the game and loving it and playing it. I really have realized it again this year, and when you get a year to take a step away from it, it’s incredibly valuable.
“It’s always been about playing catch. I’ve loved the game since I was a little kid, and if I get a chance to go out and throw the ball around, I’m doing it. And so that’s how you’re going to see us. That’s what I’ll do the first time on the practice field when we get going. It’s my love for the game that goes all the way back to the basics of it.”
Both Carroll and Spytek credited the involvement of new Raiders minority owner Tom Brady with influencing their decisions to join the team.
Brady, though, was not at the news conference.
“He has been a really exciting part of it, exciting to me, because he’s one of the great competitors that has ever lived,” Carroll said. “And so, for me that’s a chance to understand more deeply what that’s all about, where that comes from.
“This is his opportunity to put his stamp on a franchise, and so we’re excited to represent that, bringing him into it. [Raiders owner] Mark [Davis] has done an incredible job to figure out how to formulate this plan so that we can all fit together … so he’s been involved and he’s going to continue to be involved and where we’re going to lean on him.”
Davis, meanwhile, said the Raiders never offered the job to news Bears coach Ben Johnson. The Raiders owner noted Carroll’s “energy” in the interview process.
“It’s funny, when my mom found out Carroll was going to be the head coach — my mom is Carol Davis; she just turned 93 — she thought we were talking about her, but I told her, ‘No, we’re doing Pete Carroll because we’re looking for youth,'” Davis said with a laugh.
“But Pete, I’ve watched Pete for a number of years. I watched him at USC and where I really watched him was when he was at Seattle and competing with the 49ers, and the Niners were the bully on the block, and Seattle actually was one of the teams that figured out how to beat them. And they beat them pretty damn good. So, I was impressed with Pete.”
Since announcing their move to Las Vegas in 2017, the Raiders have had a combined 12 GMs and coaches, counting interims — GMs Reggie McKenzie, Mike Mayock, Dave Ziegler, Champ Kelly, Tom Telesco and now Spytek, and coaches Jack Del Rio, Jon Gruden, Rich Bisaccia, Josh McDaniels, Antonio Pierce and now Carroll.
“We want to build something here,” Davis said. “And again, that’s been the process and the mindset all along. Like I said, it got offset, or kind of blown up, when Jon Gruden was sent away. And so, we’ve been trying to get it right since then, and we’ll see. But I’ve got patience to get it right, and I think we’ve got the people now. Again, I’ve always felt that, and results are what speak to me.
“We talk about my father, we talk about John Madden, we talk about Tom Flores, we talk about Ron Wolf, and all of these people had helped me along the way, and so I know what it takes and all of that. And I think we’ve got the infrastructure now in this organization to move into the future.”