Raiders head coach search: Pete Carroll’s offensive coordinator hires provide cautionary tale

After firing Antonio Pierce, the Las Vegas Raiders have begun the offseason by interviewing head coach candidates. While it’s still relatively early, one of the Raiders’ top candidates is former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who interviewed with Las Vegas on Monday and was recently suggested as the team’s second choice by the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore.

Since the Raiders are also expected to bring in a new quarterback, Carroll’s offensive coordinator hire will be extremely important if he gets the job. His background is on the defensive side of the ball and the organization would likely want the 73-year-old to have a successor in the coaching staff. Ideally, that’d be someone who can continue working with the young quarterback.

The problem is Carroll’s coaching tree is primarily filled with former defensive coordinators and his picks at offensive coordinator in Seattle were fairly underwhelming.

Jeremy Bates

After leaving the college ranks, Carroll brought Bates with him to the Seahawks. Bates served as the Trojans’ assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach for one season in 2009. However, that relationship was short-lived. Seattle ranked 23rd in points per game in 2010, leading to Carroll firing the offensive coordinator in the offseason after just one year at the helm due to a difference in “philosophy”.

Beyond that, Bates’ tenure in the NFL was brief. He served as the Chicago Bears quarterbacks coach in 2012 and held the same position with the New York Jets in 2017. He got promoted to offensive coordinator the following season but had the same results in New York: a 23rd-ranked offensive, and fired after one year. That was the last time he coached in the NFL.

Darrell Bevell

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Bevell was arguably Carroll’s best hire as offensive coordinator. During Bevell’s tenure from 2011 to 2017, the Seahawks’ offense had a four-year stretch (2012-2015) where it finished in the top 10 in scoring every season and won a Super Bowl. Russell Wilson’s development was a big reason, as he went from being a third-round pick to a four-time Pro Bowler during that timeframe.

However, Seattle’s offense fizzled out after that, ranking 18th and 11th in the two seasons following that stretch. After finishing 9-7 in 2017, Carroll parted ways with the majority of his coaching staff, including Bevell.

Since then, Bevell has had stints with the Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars, serving as their offensive coordinator and interim head coaches when Matt Patricia and Urban Meyer were fired, respectively. Currently, Bevell is working with Tua Tagovailoa as the Miami Dolphins quarterbacks coach.

Brian Schottenheimer

Schottenheimer is an interesting case. He spent three seasons as the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator and never finished lower than ninth in points scored. However, the team struggled to score points down the stretch of the 2020 campaign and was bounced in the first round of the playoffs. That led to Carroll firing the play-caller due to “philosophical differences”.

After that, Schottenheimer spent a year with Bevell as the Jaguars passing game coordinator on Meyer’s staff before joining the Dallas Cowboys in 2022 and becoming the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator in 2023. During his first year as Dallas’ OC, the Cowboys had the No. 1 offense in the NFL. But an injury to Dak Prescott caused the unit to drop down to 23rd this past season.

Technically, Schottenheimer is still on the Cowboys’ staff but that could change after the club parted ways with Mike McCarthy. So, despite Schottenheimer’s success, he hasn’t been able to stick around in one spot for an extended period.

Shane Waldron

Carroll’s final hire as offensive coordinator was his worst. Waldron was in Seattle for three seasons and managed to finish in the top half of the league for points scored just once before the organization moved on from the entire coaching staff, Carroll included.

This past season, Waldron was hired by the Bears to work with and develop top draft pick Caleb Williams. However, that lasted just nine games with the Bears ranking 24th in scoring at the time of the coach’s dismissal.

So, Carroll churned through plenty of offensive coordinators during his 14 years as the Seahawks head coach. And outside of a couple of interim stints by Bevell, none of the coaches received a promotion or became a full-time head coach.

Is that enough reason for the Raiders to avoid hiring the Super Bowl-winning head coach? Maybe or maybe not, but it’s certainly something Las Vegas should consider.