Pete Carroll may be the oldest head coach in NFL history, but he certainly doesn’t act like it. The 73-year-old Las Vegas Raiders head coach was so fired up heading into Week 1, he could barely contain himself.
Carroll has many skills as a head coach, but perhaps his best is being able to motivate players. Even at 73, he still has the energy and excitement of a much younger man. Prior to his Raiders debut, Carroll decided to destroy a poor piece of office equipment as a way to motivate his team, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
“On the Saturday night before their season opener on Sept. 7, Pete Carroll used the stage of his first pregame meeting with the Raiders to kick through a whiteboard in dramatic fashion, leading to pandemonium in the room in a moment those present won’t soon forget,” Rapoport wrote. With the whiteboard obliterated, the end result on Sunday was a 20-13 victory over the Patriots.
“One source described Carroll like a WWE wrestler cutting a promo, showing the team that it didn’t fly to New England to mess around. The Raiders came to compete. The blasted whiteboard was the fallout.”
How Raiders Reacted to Move
Luckily for Carroll, the move didn’t fall flat. The Raiders players resonated with what the coach did.
“The room went crazy. As one source noted, ‘He just knows how to reach guys. This is why he’s who he is,'” Rapoport wrote.
It’s clear that the motivation worked. The Raiders beat the New England Patriots 21-13, and the defense was especially impressive. However, it wasn’t a surprise that he was able to get his players that motivated from the people who know the coach well.
“That’s just Pete,” one person in the room told Rapoport. “That’s how he turns the culture around.”
Jim Harbaugh Praises Carroll
Carroll is playing another coach in Week 2 who knows how to get his players ramped up to play in Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh. The two have had a well-known rivalry that’s been going on for years, but they have a lot of respect for each other.
Harbaugh praised Carroll ahead of the Raiders-Chargers Monday Night Football clash.
“He’s a great coach. One of the best. A lot of respect,” Harbaugh said ahead of the matchup, per Raiders.com. “I always thought that if I had every played for him on one of his teams – because he was coaching when I was playing – or was on his staff once I got into coaching, I bet we would’ve been really good friends. I learned a lot from him just watching him, but he’s just always been on the other side. When I was a player, he was a defensive coordinator or head coach somewhere. Then when i was coaching, we were trying to gouge each other’s eyes out. … It’s competition at the highest level, it’s what he’s all about. Pretty enthusiastic, too, I’ve noticed. Nothing but respect for that. Same person, same coach every day. Nothing but respect for that and does a tremendous job.”
Insider Leaks Destructive Way Pete Carroll Motivated Raiders Before Week 1