Raiders Daily: A Head Coaching Rivalry Renewed, Lester Hayes Among Senior HOF Nominees

Raiders Daily: A Head Coaching Rivalry Renewed, Lester Hayes Among Senior HOF Nominees
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The Las Vegas Raiders‘ AFC West battles with the Los Angeles Chargers will add a new chapter with familiar foes. Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh will meet again in an ongoing rivalry. A dozen former Raiders have a chance to become Hall of Famers. Meanwhile, the team’s scouts were eyeing prospects Thursday night.

Raiders Daily revisits the clashes between Carroll and Harbaugh and outlines the next steps for several Hall of Fame hopefuls.

Rivals Pete Carroll, Jim Harbaugh Face Off Again

Pete Carroll’s head coaching rivalry with Jim Harbaugh dates back to their time at USC and Stanford, respectively. In the old FBS Pac-10 Conference, their programs faced off between 2007 and 2010.

They continued their battles in the NFC West. Between 2011 and 2014, Carroll’s Seattle Seahawks faced Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers twice a year and met in the NFC Championship Game of the 2013 campaign.

As NFL head coaches, Carroll has a slight upper hand over Harbaugh with a 5-4 record. Both talked about their shared history, which dates back to when Harbaugh played quarterback and Carroll called plays for defenses.

Safe to say Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh don’t like each other 😂 pic.twitter.com/EZbs2zbzfx

— ChargersMuse (@ChargersMuse) September 11, 2025

The Carroll-Harbaugh feud will be wrapped into the Raiders-Chargers in-division competition, which will create juicy storylines for as long as they remain in the AFC West.

12 Former Raiders, Including Lester Hayes, Are 2026 Senior Hall of Fame Nominees

On Thursday, the NFL released its list of 2026 Hall of Fame nominees for the Senior category. Among the 162 names, 12 former Raiders appeared on the list: Jim Plunkett, Roger Craig, Max Montoya, Art Powell, Todd Christensen, Matt Millen, Rod Martin, Pat Swilling, Dave Grayson, Lester Hayes, Albert Lewis and Jack Tatum.

All the nominees on the Senior list haven’t played since 2000 at the latest, have accumulated at least five years of service and earned a postseason honor.

In the next few weeks, the Seniors Screening Committee will reduce the pool of names to 50 candidates. Then the Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee will narrow it down to three for potential elections into the 2026 Hall of Fame Class.

Depending on when you became a fan, certain names stand out more than others. Regardless, Raider fans may be celebrating at least one of their own next summer.

Raiders Were in Attendance for Wake Forest vs. NC State

ESPN’s Jordan Reid noted the Raiders’ presence—among several other teams—for Thursday night’s college football matchup between Wake Forest and NC State. He also highlighted the top prospects in that game.

15 NFL teams in attendance at NC State/Wake Forest:

ATL, BAL, BUF, CHI, DAL, LAC, LVR, MIA, MIN, NE, NYG, PHI, PIT, , SEA, SF

MIN and NYG both with lots of representation here on-hand.

— Jordan Reid (@Jordan_Reid) September 11, 2025

• NC State:
– Hollywood Smothers, RB, #3
– Justin Joly, TE, #7...