Gee Scott on Pete Carroll joining the Raiders: ‘It’s tough to win in Vegas’

After spending a year away from NFL sidelines, former Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll has returned to the NFL to coach the Las Vegas Raiders.

Carroll, who won 147 games — including 10 in the postseason — and a Super Bowl over 14 years with the Seahawks, agreed to a three-year contract with the Raiders with a fourth-year team option, according to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter. Once his birthday arrives in September, Carroll will become the first person in league history to be a head coach at the age of 74, according to NBC Sports.

“Gee, I got to know, did you see this coming?” KIRO Newsradio guest host Angela Poe Russell asked Gee Scott, co-host of “The Gee and Ursula Show.”

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“No, no I did not see it coming,” Gee replied. “I thought it was a possibility that that family member would date again, but I did not think that they would date this person.”

In the 18 seasons since 2007, the Oakland-turned-Las Vegas Raiders have had 10 different head coaches, with Carroll becoming the franchise’s 11th in that span. The Seattle Seahawks, for comparison, have had nine head coaches since the team’s genesis in 1976.

“First of all, congratulations to Pete Carroll, because this is what he loves doing. He loves coaching,” Gee said. “And it’s going to be, of course, a nice paycheck for him. He’s getting a three-year deal. We don’t know exactly what the money is, but it won’t be under $10-15 million a year, so he’ll make some money there.

“The only thing is, there’s a reason why it is tough to win in cities like Miami and Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, they don’t have a fan base. In Las Vegas, the majority of the fans are for the away teams. So when the Chicago Bears go to play Las Vegas, a whole bunch of Bears fans show up. If the Seahawks were to play the Raiders, I guarantee you there’ll be a whole bunch of Seahawks fans in there. Why? Because how many dang Raiders fans are living in Las Vegas? It’s going to be tough. And Pete Carroll is a life coach. Pete Carroll is a motivator. Pete Carroll is a glass half-full guy, and I just don’t think that style will be able to overcome the challenges that are in Las Vegas.”

Las Vegas finished with the second-worst fan attendance last season, with only the Chicago Bears averaging fewer fans per home game.

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The Raiders franchise has only made the playoffs twice in the last 22 years after the team’s Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team has only had three seasons with a positive point differential and never won the division they reside in, the AFC West, during that span.

But the Raiders are attempting a major facelift after decades of struggle and unsuccessful seasons. Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, considered arguably the greatest player to ever play the sport professionally, joined Las Vegas as a minority owner, and was a significant voice in hiring both John Spytek as the team’s general manager and Carroll as the head coach.

Spytek was the assistant general manager with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, working with Brady when he played for Tampa Bay from 2020-22.

With Carroll joining the AFC West, he now resides in a division made up of head coaches Andy Reid, Sean Payton and Jim Harbaugh. That accolade-laden group of coaches has combined for 20 conference championship appearances, nine Super Bowl appearances and five Super Bowl wins.

“There are these rumors about Russell Wilson maybe becoming a free agent, and that maybe he’s mended fences with Pete Carroll. Do you think that could happen?” Poe Russell said.

More on Pete Carroll: Could Pete and Russ now have a reunion in Vegas?

“It could be possible,” Gee answered, referencing a potential Russell Wilson-Pete Carroll reunion. “The reason why it could be possible is because the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to pay some money to the backup, Justin Fields. They’re going to go with him next season. I don’t think they’re going to have Russell as the starter.”

But Gee identified a caveat in the potential Seattle reunion brewing in Sin City.

“Him going over there is great, but Russell didn’t build the culture here in Seattle. The culture was already built by the time Russell got here in 2012,” Gee said. “So it’s not like Russell knows how to come in and build a culture. He came and plopped right in. He was a great quarterback and did his thing, but it’s going to be interesting to see how it goes. But again, I want to just repeat, I love Pete Carroll. I love that he’s dating again. I just didn’t want him to date the Las Vegas Raiders.”

The Seahawks and Raiders are slated to play each other in the 2026 season.

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.