Silver And Black Pride
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...
