Sportsnaut
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll had a distinctive way of preparing the team for its season opener. On his birthday, he may have something else in store for the club ahead of its Monday night matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers. Before the game kicks off, Tom Brady will make a major announcement.
Raiders Daily sheds light on Carroll’s motivational tactics and what Brady may share with the public.
Every head coach has a way to motivate players. Some are subtle, and others grab your attention with a strong message that permeates the locker room. Head coach Pete Carroll chose the latter method.
Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Carroll made a WWE-style entrance and destroyed a whiteboard to get his team ready for a road trip to New England for the season opener.
“According to those in the room, Carroll entered from the back like WWE superstar Jey Uso, walking through the players as if his theme music was going,” Rapoport wrote. “He took his time, allowing tension to build.
“When it was time to start talking, he harped on the need to compete, especially focusing on the former Patriots in the room, considering there were so many.
“Then, as the crescendo, symbolically telling them to kick in the door … he kicked in the whiteboard, destroying it.”
Carroll delivered his message in an entertaining yet stern manner that resonated with the players.
Aside from a comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2 of last season, the Raiders mostly struggled in games that started at 1 p.m. ET. They scored on their first drive of the season, led the Patriots for most of the second half and held on to a comfortable lead for the victory.
On Monday, Carroll turned 74, and his Raiders will face the Los Angeles Chargers led by Jim Harbaugh, who coached against him in the old Pac-10 Conference and in the NFC West a little more than a decade ago.
One has to wonder what Carroll did to fire up the players on his birthday ahead of a big-time Monday Night Football AFC West showdown against a well-respected coaching adversary.
Tom Brady will break some news on Monday. While on Fox pregame show (h/t 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov), the Raiders minority owner said he’s worked on something special “for a very long time.”
Tom Brady said on FOX that he will be at the Chargers-Raiders game tomorrow night and plans to announce something very special that he’s been working on “for a very long time.” 👀 pic.twitter.com/5H4lAQjjy7
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 14, 2025
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