5 things to know about Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll

The Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday announced Pete Carroll as the organization's new head coach.

Here are five things to know about the veteran coach.

1. Proven success

First and foremost, Pete Carroll is a winner.

In Carroll's 27 years as a head coach at the collegiate and professional levels, only four of those seasons have ended with a losing record. During his tenure with the Seattle Seahawks, he notched 137 regular season games and 10 playoff wins. Seattle reached the postseason 10 of Carroll's 14 seasons. During his time at the helm of the USC Trojans, he went 97-19 (83.6 win percentage) with seven bowl game victories.

He is one of three head coaches to win both a college football title and a Super Bowl (Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer).

2. The man behind "The Legion of Boom"

Carroll certainly helped bring the boom to Seattle.

He helped build a dominant Seahawks defense that later earned the moniker of "The Legion of Boom" from fans and media alike. With Pro Bowlers Bobby Wagner, Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas, the Seahawks had a top-five ranked defense for five consecutive seasons, including being the No. 1 ranked defense from 2013-2014.

Their Super Bowl XLVIII victory still stands as one of the most dominant showings in history, as the Seahawks' 43-8 throttling over the Denver Broncos is still tied for being the third-most lopsided game in Super Bowl history. "The Legion of Boom" forced the Broncos to commit four turnovers.

3. A fighting Trojan

Before his Super Bowl victory with the Seahawks, Carroll led the USC Trojans to seven consecutive Pac-10 titles and two BCS National Championships.

During his tenure there, he won three Pac-10 Coach of the Year awards while coaching 15 consensus All-Americans and 53 NFL draft picks. He also produced three Heisman Trophy winners in quarterbacks Carson Palmer (2002), Matt Leinart (2004) and running back Reggie Bush (2005).

4. A chess match in the AFC West

Carroll is entering a competitive division of three AFC West teams that made the playoffs in 2024.

Those three teams also have coaches that've enjoyed similar success to Carroll as Kansas City Chiefs' Andy Reid and Denver Broncos' Sean Payton are also Super Bowl champions. Los Angeles Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, like Carroll, has coached in a Super Bowl and a national title game.

The Raiders' new head coach has found success over the years against these other in-division coaches, with a career total 10 wins against Reid, Payton and Harbaugh. This includes an NFC Championship victory over Harbaugh's San Francisco 49ers in the 2013 season.

5. A tall coaching tree

The Carroll coaching tree is quite the extensive one.

Sixteen coaches who have served as an assistant or coordinator under Carroll have been hired to head coaching positions in the NCAA or NFL. That includes two current NFL head coaches in Dan Quinn (Washington Commanders) and Dave Canales (Carolina Panthers), and three current college head coaches at Power 5 programs: Steve Sarkisian (Texas), Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss) and Jedd Fisch (Washington).

Aaron Glenn, Carroll's first ever draft pick as an NFL head coach in 1994, was just hired to be the New York Jets head coach, making him the first player to be coached by Carroll to be named an NFL head coach.