Pete Carroll, John Spytek remain 'open-minded' ahead of working first NFL Draft together

Apr 18, 2025 at 04:00 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

Pete Carroll and John Spytek's approaches to the NFL Draft have been shaped, and are linked, by their respective experiences.

Carroll is going into his 19th draft day as the head coach of an NFL team, while Spytek is going into his first ever draft as a general manager. Though it may be his first as the man at the top, that doesn't equate to lack of knowledge in this case. Spytek possess nearly 20 years of scouting and player personnel experience – being a part of staffs that've drafted the likes of Tristan Wirfs, Vita Vea, Chris Godwin and Joe Haden.

"There's no signs that this is John's first go-around," Carroll said Friday, sitting next to the general manager as they addressed local media. "It doesn't feel like that at all. He's gained so much from the people he's worked with. I'm sure they've given him latitude and they've utilized his powers and his strengths, because you can just tell he's very comfortable with the process. That doesn't mean that we don't – as we're growing together, there will be things that we tweak along the way. But I couldn't be more confident in where he's coming from, and I think it's because philosophically, we're so connected."

The feelings are mutual from the Raiders general manager toward Carroll. While this is their first draft working together, they seem to share the same philosophy in evaluating prospects and making decisions to enhance the roster. The two already have a bit a connection, considering Spytek was the assistant general manager to Jason Licht with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who was previously a college scout under Carroll with the New England Patriots.

"Lots of great communication, thoughts, sharing ideas, different perspectives. I pride myself in being an open-minded person," Spytek said. "I've gotten to know Coach [Carroll] really well. He's certainly an open-minded person, and there's no personal feelings in this or anything like that. We both have our thoughts and our experiences, but I think the cool thing is that we share a lot of things in common about what we're looking for in players and who we want to add to this organization, which has made us a pretty good team so far."

"I'd be lying if I didn't say that this wasn't a dream come true. It certainly is," he later added. "But the gravity of getting the picks right and having a great process and making sure that we communicate is really more important to me than anything else. ... And added bonus to have to have Coach here with me, who's excelled at this for a long time. I mean, I marveled at their drafts in Seattle in all the past years. All those decades when I was paying my dues, I was marveling at what coach was doing. So, anyway, there's a wealth of knowledge and I'm just excited for the opportunity for the group of us upstairs."

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Both Spytek and Carroll indicated that all options are on the table regarding what they might do with their first-round pick. That includes the possibility of trading back to get more assets, trading up to take a player on their draft board that's fallen or obviously, staying put at No. 6 and taking their guy.

The duo has taken the draft process to not only evaluate a player's ability on the field, but the personality they'll be potentially adding to the locker room as well.

"I would say that the more situations that we can put guys in, and the more opportunity we have to see them in different lights and all is high value," Carroll said. "We were trying to be real creative with that thought while they were here in the questions that we ask, and what we're digging at them to reveal so that we can just get enough info to have the kind of gauge that we feel really good about. And sometimes you feel better about some guys than others, and some of it has to do with the openness of the player. We try to give them an atmosphere where they feel comfortable so that they'll feel free and allow a little bit of vulnerability to be shown and all that."

The two are more than prepared for the unpredictability that will come with the draft that's six days away. They also shared that scouts will be inside the draft war room for team morale and additional helping hands.

There's still more questions than answers on what direction the Silver and Black will go, but there remains a clear consensus between the head coach and general manager. They're adamant on selecting the best players available for their team as a whole versus drafting to simply satisfy a need on the roster.

"We're going to make the best decision for the Raiders," Spytek said. "And certainly, we have to take into mind places that we feel like we're not as deep at, at certain positions. And also, we have opportunities to add really good players, too, whether we think we need that player or not. My experience is two things. If you start forcing players because you need them, you end up regretting that. You also can't have enough good players in certain positions, too."

"Over-trying is really a problem," Carroll added. "You try too hard to make something happen that maybe isn't all justified, and that comes from wanting to fill holes and fill voids and you overreach, and we don't want to do that. We want to be very composed about the decision making and not get all enamored with one person that's going to make the difference in the draft and all of that. We'd rather go about it in a very deliberate way and make our choices very clear."

For more draft content, visit raiders.com/draft.

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Las Vegas Raiders defensive tackle Tyler Manoa (92) at a workout during phase one of the offseason program at Intermountain Health Performance Center.