When situations are dire or when his players need both correction and inspiration, Pete Carroll wants to be on the sideline and ready at a moment’s notice to look his Las Vegas Raiders in the eye.
The 73-year-old head coach, renowned for his communication and leadership style, is expecting the same from his coaching staff.
After spending time up on the booth with a bird’s eye view of the action the past two seasons for the Silver & Black, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is slated to roam the sideline with Carroll. This is what the Raiders head coach wants after the two coaches talked it out.
Carroll is a big believer in Graham’s ability to command the defensive room and having that direct communication with players is what Las Vegas lead man believes can make a difference in those critical, quick, high-pressure moments of a football game.
“Yeah, I have a little bit of input. Yeah, I have talked to Patrick through this. We talked through the offseason and wanted to try both. I really like him on the field. I like him down there,” Carroll explained on the shift for Graham. “He has a real command, and he has a real presence in the defensive room with all the position groups. And I think he lends to being able to connect the dots for the proper verbiage and terminology in a moment’s notice when you really got to be clear and succinct. I think he’s best when he can really look these guys in the eye and help on the sidelines. So he’ll stay there.”
Which beckons the question: Graham in the booth or on the sideline, does it matter?
We’ll get an answer to that query quickly when the Raiders open the 2025 regular season campaign on the road at the New England Patriots this coming Sunday. And that particular inquiry will likely be answered as Las Vegas progresses throughout the regular season.
But here’s an interesting item when it comes to Graham headed back to the sideline instead of in the booth: The man who made the decision for the defensive coordinator to go up to the eagle’s nest will be dialing up the plays for New England in the opener: Josh McDaniels.
The much maligned Raiders coach who compiled a 9-16 record between 2022 and 2023 — fired on Halloween — is back to his roots as the Patriots offensive coordinator. And it’ll be a battle of McDaniels vs. Graham this Sunday.
“We took a peek at it in the preseason and liked the way (Graham) was able to see everything,” McDaniels said in 2022. “They’re up there, they feel like they have a great birds-eye view of what’s going on. You can see things more in real time.”
We can call out the myriad of misgivings when it comes to McDaniels, but the decision to put Graham up high to see the entire field was a fortuitous decision for Las Vegas, especially the 2023 season. That year, the Raiders defense ranked ninth out of 32 teams in points allowed — 331 total, 19.5 per game average — and 15th in total yards allowed (5,625).
That 2023 campaign was a quantum leap when compared to 2022, Graham’s first year orchestrating the Raiders defense under McDaniels. Las Vegas ranked 26th in points allowed — 418 total, 24.6 per game average — and 28th in yards allowed (6,216). This past season, Graham’s defense ranked 25th in points allowed — 434, 25.5 per game average — but 15th in yards yielded (5,663).
With a roster infused with newcomers — which is a mix of youth and inexperience along with veterans looking to rebound — expect there to be growing pains in Carroll’s inaugural season as the Raiders’ lead man. While the defense does boast elite edge rusher Maxx Crosby, there will be plenty on the shoulders of veteran defensive tackles Adam Butler and Leki Fotu, as well as veteran linebackers Elandon Roberts, Devin White, and Jamal Adams to help bring along a unit that is young in the secondary.
A clean bill of health and return to form from defensive end Malcolm Koonce this year (missed all of last season with a torn ACL) along with continued development from fellow edge rusher Tyree Wilson (the Raiders seventh overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and a defender expected to slide inside to tackle in certain downs and distances) will help bolster the group. One that features rookie defensive tackles Tonka Hemingway (135th overall out of South Carolina) and JJ Pegues (180th overall out of Ole Miss) and rookie cornerback Darien Porter (68th overall pick out of Iowa State).
“It’s hard to be confident until you’ve really gone through it, so that’s the problem with playing rookies. I’ve never had an issue with that. I’ve always played young guys and helped them make it through it, and we’ll do much of the same with our guys now,” Carroll said when asked about his youthful secondary. “I think Eric Stokes has done a really good solid job of jumping in and owning his spot. (Safety) Jeremy (Chinn) has given us real stability, and really, Isaiah (Pola-Mao) has done a fine job of just picking up and taking this next step in his career. He’s had a lot of opportunity to be in leadership position on the back end and making calls and all of that, and he’s done really well.
“We’ve got really good competition over there on the other side and we’ll see how that works out by the end of the week, but we’ll keep it going. A number of guys will play in the game. You’ll see a lot of guys will be rolling through there.”
Thus, perhaps it’s a wise call from Carroll to have Graham on the sideline to look his defenders in the eye, provide correction, direction, and motivation this season.