The Raiders interviewed Darrell Bevell on Tuesday for their offensive coordinator position, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports.
Bevell has spent the past three years as the Dolphins quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.
The interview is anything but a surprise.
Bevell worked as Pete Carroll’s offensive coordinator in Seattle from 2011-17, so the new Raiders coach appears to be trying to get the band back together.
Bevell began his NFL coaching career with the Packers in 2000 and spent the 2003-05 seasons as their quarterbacks coach. He was the offensive coordinator for the Vikings (2006-10) before going to the Seahawks.
Bevell also was the defensive coordinator of the Lions (2019-20) and Jaguars (2021) and briefly served as the interim head coach for both of those teams.
When the NFL’s owners approved Raiders minority owner Tom Brady for limited membership in Club Oligarch, they might or might not have known that he plans to have a major voice in the operation.
Regardless, he does. And he will.
Monday’s comments from coach Pete Carroll and owner Tom Brady make that abundantly clear, if it wasn’t already. Carroll said he plans to lean heavily on Brady. Davis said Brady becomes the replacement for Jon Gruden as the “person on the football side that would bring stability to the organization.”
Carroll might wonder why that isn’t him, since the last organizational stabilizer was, you know, the head coach. And the whole thing could get interesting and possibly awkward, if (for example) the absentee landlord’s ideas about the direction of the franchise conflict with the opinions of the day-in, day-in manager who is, you know, managing the team.
Brady’s primary job with Fox, which he has defiantly vowed to continue through its 10-year term, will keep him occupied. He won’t be able to even attend most Raiders games. Carroll will be the one steering the ship, all the time.
Carroll surely has the people skills to manage a two-owner situation, but it will be a far cry from the relative autonomy he enjoyed under the late Paul Allen and then his sister, Jody, in Seattle.
The benefit for the Raiders comes from the access Brady will have (and be handsomely paid to use) when it comes to coaches and players. While he can’t attend practices or production meetings, Brady can talk to anyone at any time. And people will return his calls, because he’s Tom LFG Brady.
No other owner, majority or minority, has that kind of insight about the league’s other teams. Imagine, for example, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie calling around to players and coaches and traveling around to a different game every week, talking to coaches and players on the field before the game.
For Brady, the effort will help his effort to make the Raiders more competitive. And Fox will be paying him $37.5 million per year to do it.
Brady will learn much more than what the film reveals about players. He’ll gain important insights while also developing relationships that will provide a valuable foundation when it’s time every offseason to identify free agents and recruit them to Las Vegas.
And when the Raiders move from the group of 10 or so teams that none of the other owners need to worry about into the group of 10 or so teams that everyone has to worry about, they’ll have only themselves to blame. By then, it’ll be too late to do anything about it.
But, go ahead, keep saying that there’s no conflict of interest. And keep playing the #whatabout game with anyone who dares to point out that the whole thing adds up to a competitive advantage for Brady and the Raiders that could turn out to be far more beneficial than taking a little air out of some footballs.
The 2024 season is over and the 18 teams that failed to qualify for the playoffs have started to look ahead to next season.
For some of those teams, that will involve finding new head coaches and/or General Managers. Three teams fired their head coaches during the season and two more have been dispatched as of 9 a.m. ET on January 6. The Jets are the only team that has dismissed their G.M. at this point, but any future changes will be added to the tracker of all firings, interviews and hirings below.
Chicago Bears: Fired head coach Matt Eberflus on November 29. Requested interviews with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, and Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. Requested interview with Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. Requested interviews with Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Requested an interview with Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy. Requested interview with Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Requested interview with Giants assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. Set to interview Glenn between January 9-12. Set to interview former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel on January 8. Set to interview former Jets, Patriots, and Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll on January 9. Set to interview Kafka on January 9. Set to interview Petzing on January 8. Interviewed Vrabel on January 8. Requested interview with Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell. Requested interview with Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. Announced completed interview with Petzing on January 9. Interviewed Johnson on January 11. Interviewed Glenn on January 11. Set to interview former Panthers and Commanders head coach Ron Rivera on January 12. Interviewed interim head coach Thomas Brown on January 13. Requested interview with Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich. Scheduled an interview with McCarthy for January 15. Interviewed Smith on January 15. Completed interview with McCarthy on January 15. Set to interview Monken on January 17. Set to interview Flores on January 18. Interviewed Joe Brady on January 17. Interviewed Flores on January 18. Interviewed Stenavich on January 18. Will interview Tennessee State coach Eddie George on January 19. Finalizing deal to hire Johnson on January 20. Hired Johnson on January 21.
Dallas Cowboys: Parted ways with Mike McCarthy on January 13. Are expected to interview former Jets coach Robert Saleh. Requested interview with Seattle assistant head coach Leslie Frazier. Will interview Saleh on January 18 and Frazier on January 20. Requested an interview with Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Completed an interview with Moore on January 17. Expected to interview Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Completed an interview with Schottenheimer on January 21. Hired Schottenheimer on January 24.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Fired head coach Doug Pederson on January 6. Set to interview Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn between January 9-12. Requested interview with Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen. Requested interview with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Requested interviews with former Jets head coach Robert Saleh, Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Set to interview Robert Saleh on January 14. Requested interview with Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Requested interview with Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Set to interview Johnson on January 11. Announced completed interview with Johnson on January 11. Interviewed Spagnuolo on January 10. Interviewed Glenn on January 11. Interviewed Saleh on January 14. Scheduled to interview Flores on January 17. Interviewed Coen on January 15. Set to interview Monken on January 16. Set to interview Moore on January 17. Completed interview with Monken on January 16. Completed an interview with Moore on January 17. Interviewed Flores on January 17. Interviewed Brady on January 18. Will conduct second interview with Robert Saleh on January 24. Set for second interviews with Coen and Graham. Coen withdrew from consideration on January 22. Parted ways with General Manager Trent Baalke on January 22. Hired Coen on January 24.
Las Vegas Raiders: Fired head coach Antonio Pierce on January 7. Requested interviews with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Requested an interview with Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Requested interview with Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Will interview former Jets coach Robert Saleh. Fired General Manager Tom Telesco on January 9. Scheduled interview with former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll for January 14. Set to interview Johnson on January 10. Requested interview with Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. Requested interview with Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan. Set to interview Buccaneers assistant G.M. John Spytek. Requested an interview with Steelers director of player personnel Sheldon White. Requested an interview with Giants assistant G.M. Brandon Brown. Interviewed Joseph on January 16. Interviewed former Panthers and Commanders head coach Ron Rivera on January 17. Interviewed Saleh on January 17. Interviewed Commanders assistant G.M. Lance Newmark on January 19. Set for second interviews with Brown and Chargers assistant G.M. Chad Alexander on January 20. Finalizing deal to hire Spytek on January 22. Finalized deal to hire Carroll on January 24.
New England Patriots: Fired head coach Jerod Mayo on January 5. Requested interview with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Interviewed former Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton on January 7. Interviewed former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich on January 7. Set to interview former Titans head coach and Patriots Hall of Famer Mike Vrabel on January 8. Set to interview Johnson on January 9. Requested interview with Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Interviewed Johnson on January 10. Reportedly in negotiations to make Vrabel their new head coach. Hired Mike Vrabel on January 12.
New Orleans Saints: Fired head coach Dennis Allen on November 4. Requested interview with Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Requested interviews with Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. Requested interview with Giants assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. Set to interview Glenn between January 9-12. Interviewed Weaver on January 8. Set to interview Kafka on January 9. Requested interview with Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. Interviewed Kafka on January 9. Interviewed Glenn on January 10. Set to interview Moore on January 18. Set to interview Brady and Rizzi on January 17. Completed an interview with Rizzi on January 17. Completed an interview with Brady on January 18. Set for second interview with Glenn on January 22. Plan for second interviews with Moore and Brady for the week of January 27. Set for second interview with Weaver on January 24. Set for second interview with Kafka on January 25. Announced second interview with Kafka. Announced second interview with Weaver on January 24. Announced second interview with Moore on January 28.
New York Jets: Fired head coach Robert Saleh on October 8. Fired G.M. Joe Douglas on November 9. Interviewed former Falcons G.M. Thomas Dimitroff on December 16. Interviewed Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy on December 19. Interviewed former Titans G.M. Jon Robinson and ESPN analyst Louis Riddick. Interviewed former Panthers and Commanders head coach Ron Rivera on January 2. Interviewed former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel on January 3. Set to interview former Jets and Bills head coach Rex Ryan on January 7. Set to interview interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich. Requested interview with Chiefs assistant G.M. Mike Borgonzi. Requested interview with Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Requested interview with Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. Requested interviews with Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Set to interview Eagles assistant G.M. Alec Halaby on January 8. Requested interviews with Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, 49ers QBs coach Brian Griese. Requested interview with Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Requested interview with Vikings QBs coach Josh McCown. Requested interviews with Vikings senior vice president of player personnel Ryan Grigson and Bengals senior personnel executive Trey Brown. Set to interview Borgonzi on January 8. Set to interview Glenn between January 9-12. Set to interview Nagy on January 8. Requested interview with Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi. Requested interview with Buccaneers assistant G.M. Mike Greenberg. Interviewed Halaby on January 8. Interviewed Nagy on January 8. Will interview Lions executive Chris Spielman for G.M. position. Interviewed Borgonzi on January 8. Requested interview with Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Interviewed Glenn and former Browns G.M. Ray Farmer on January 9. Announced they completed the interview with Glenn. Interviewed Maryland head coach Mike Locksley on January 10. Interviewed Broncos assistant G.M. Darren Mougey on January 11. Interviewed Grigson and Spielman on January 11. Interviewed Rizzi on January 11. Interviewed Brown and Commanders assistant G.M. Lance Newmark on January 11. Interviewed interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich on January 13. Interviewed Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan on January 14. Completed an interview with Gaine on January 14. Interviewed Joseph on January 15. Requested interview with Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. Interviewed Slowik on January 16. Interviewed Smith on January 16. Set to interview Flores on January 17. Set to interview McCown on January 17. Interviewed Hafley on January 17. Completed an interview with McCown on January 17. Interviewed Flores on January 17. Set for second interview with Glenn on January 21. Set for second interview with Newmark on January 21. Hired Glenn on January 22. Hired Mougey on January 25.
Tennessee Titans: Fired General Manager Ran Carthon on January 7. Expected to interview Bills director of player personnel Terrance Gray. Requested interviews with Dolphins senior personnel executive Reggie McKenzie, Colts assistant G.M. Ed Dodds, Chiefs assistant G.M. Mike Borgonzi, and Browns assistant G.M./vice president of football operations Catherine Hickman. Requested interview with Buccaneers assistant G.M. John Spytek. Will interview former Falcons G.M. Thomas Dimitroff. Interviewed McKenzie, Spytek and Dimitroff on January 10. Interviewed Dodds, Hickman, Gray, and Seahawks senior director of player personnel Matt Berry on January 11. Set to interview Borgonzi on January 12. Interviewed Bears assistant G.M. Ian Cunningham on January 12. Interviewed Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan on January 13. Set for second interviews with Dodds, Gray, Borgonzi, Cunningham, and Spytek. Set for second interview with Sullivan. Had second interviews with Dodds and Gray on January 14. Set for second interview with Borgonzi on January 15. Completed second interviews with Gray and Dobbs. Completed second interview with Borgonzi on January 15. Completed second interview with Cunningham on January 15. Completed second interviews with Spytek and Sullivan on January 16. Hired Borgonzi on January 17. Announced Borgonzi’s hiring.
Patrick Graham won’t be the head coach of the Jaguars, but he is in the mix for another job in Jacksonville.
The Jaguars announced that they completed an interview with Graham for their defensive coordinator job on Monday night. They also interviewed Vikings pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach Daronte Jones.
Graham had two interviews with the Jaguars for their head coaching position before they hired Liam Coen. The second, in-person interview came just before the Jags got a deal done with Coen.
Graham spent the last three seasons as the Raiders’ defensive coordinator. He has also been a coordinator with the Giants and Dolphins.
When the Raiders started looking for a new head coach and general manager a few weeks ago, no one had Pete Carroll and John Spytek atop the list of hires. But Carroll and Spytek were formally introduced as the Raiders’ new coach and GM on Monday, and they both said they believe they can work together to build the Raiders into winners.
“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, via ESPN. “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.”
Spytek said everything he does in player acquisition will be based in the idea that he wants players who will fit with the kind of team Carroll is trying to built.
“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.”
Coaches and general managers have come and gone, but the Raiders struggles haven’t changed: In the last 22 seasons they’ve only been to the playoffs twice, and lost in the wild card round both times. Carroll and Spytek believe they can change that.
Raiders owner Mark Davis has a new G.M. and a new coach. But his new football consigliere is Tom Brady.
Speaking to reporters after Monday’s press conference introducing new coach Pete Carroll and new G.M. John Spytek, Davis explained that Brady fills a void the team had since October 2021, when former coach Jon Gruden was forced out by the leak of emails he sent to former Washington executive Bruce Allen while Gruden was working for ESPN.
“Bringing in Tom Brady was bringing in somebody on the football that I had been lacking having here in the organization,” Davis said, via the video posted by the Raiders. “Back in I guess it was ’18, with Jon Gruden. He was somebody that I brought in and really expected to be that person on the football side that would bring stability to the organization. He had a 10-year contract and all that, and he had his head chopped off. And we were put in a really bad position as an organization.”
Davis also made it clear that they pivoted to Carroll “when one person made a decision to go to another team.” Davis was referring to Bears coach Ben Johnson; Davis later said that the Raiders never made Johnson an offer.
Of course, they couldn’t. Johnson wasn’t available to be offered the job until the Lions lost. Two days later, Johnson made a beeline for the Bears.
When discussing the Spytek hire, Davis mentioned that Spytek was part of the group that brought Brady to Tampa in 2020. Davis added “to my chagrin.”
Which seems to confirm the claim from UFC guru Dana White that he was trying to broker a deal to deliver Brady to the Raiders — and that Gruden was the one who killed the deal.
Now, Brady has replaced Gruden as the man on whom Davis will primarily rely on the football side. This underscores the influence Brady will have over the team.
Even though Brady won’t be able to attend most games, since he’ll be working his primary job on the days the Raiders play.
The Raiders have a new head coach and a new General Manager.
Now they’re set to team up to find the best option for the club at the game’s most critical position.
In a joint introductory press conference for head coach Pete Carroll and G.M. John Spytek, both men noted Tom Brady’s involvement when it comes to helping shape the team’s new leadership group. But Carroll added that Brady will serve as a critical resource going forward as the Raiders look for a franchise quarterback.
"[I]t’s our missing to build this football team up around the quarterback position. This isn’t the only spot,” Carroll said. “We happen to have the greatest of all time to help us, and to see clearly, and we’re going to lean on Tom as much as we possibly can for his insights because nobody has the insights that he has. He’s that unique.
“But the quarterback position is one of the positions on the team and we’ve got to make it all fit together well. I had pretty good success with my quarterbacks in the past — you can go all the way back to my college days — and they all turned out to be really extraordinary members of our club. There’s a way to embrace the challenge that the quarterback has from the rest of the football team as well. We need to support our guy. And we need to do what we can to make that work. It’s really about making a great football team around the quarterback position. Coach [Bill] Walsh taught me a long time ago that it’s the hardest position in professional sports to play, so we need to make it as easy as possible. And we’ll go about doing that by running the football, protecting him, taking care of the ball, playing great defense, and kicking the football when we want to kick it. So, there’s a lot that goes into this. But to think about how fortunate we are to have Tom Brady with us — it’s just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Spytek noted that being around Brady — who he called “the greatest player ever” — illustrated to him how a love of the game and a strong competitive desire helped develop his philosophy about what can make a good QB.
“He was never out of a fight,” Spytek said. “He was willing to do things that the ordinary football player, person wasn’t willing to do.
“We’re going to turn over every stone to find that leader for this team, too. There’s just going to be certain requirements for the job. And it doesn’t necessarily take the strongest arm or the best thrower, it’s the guys who will push their teammates to a place that’s uncomfortable, that will give almost anything to win. That’s what the best ones do, and we’re going to find one of those.”
Carroll noted that Brady was “integrally” involved in the hiring process and it sounds like, despite his day job as a broadcaster for Fox, he will be a significant part of how Spytek and Carroll will build the team moving forward.
There is at least one known candidate for Las Vegas’ first defensive coordinator under new head coach Pete Carroll.
According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, the Raiders have put in a request to interview Seahawks defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator Karl Scott for the position.
Scott, 39, has been with Seattle since 2022 in the position and worked under Carroll at the end of his Seahawks’ tenure. He was previously Minnesota’s defensive backs coach in 2021 after three seasons of working under former Alabama coach Nick Saban as the Crimson Tide’s DBs coach.
Patrick Graham had been the Raiders’ defensive coordinator since the team hired Josh McDaniels in 2022, but it now appears Las Vegas will be moving on to someone new in the role.
It’s official: Pete Carroll is the new head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Raiders announced on Saturday afternoon that Carroll has officially become their head coach, a comeback to the NFL after many assumed his head-coaching career was over after he was fired by the Seahawks a year ago.
Carroll has a 170-120-1 record as an NFL head coach with the Seahawks, Patriots and Jets. He won a Super Bowl and lost another during his 14 seasons in Seattle. He also built USC into the best program in college football during his tenure there.
When the regular season starts, Carroll will become the oldest person ever to serve as head coach in an NFL game. He turns 74 in September; the previous record belongs to Romeo Crennel, who was 73 when he served as interim head coach of the Texans.
The Raiders haven’t won a playoff game since they reached the Super Bowl after the 2002 season. Carroll’s job will be to change that.
The Raiders officially have a new General Manager.
The team announced on Friday night the hiring Buccaneers assistant G.M. John Spytek into the position.
Spytek replaces Tom Telesco, who was fired on January 9.
The new G.M. spent nine years with the Buccaneers, overlapping with Raiders minority owner Tom Brady’s time there as starting quarterback.
Spytek has also worked with the Broncos, Browns, Eagles, and Lions in a career that spans 23 years.
The Raiders also are expected to officially name Pete Carroll as the team’s new head coach.
