INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.—The Las Vegas Raiders franchise, under Mark Davis's leadership, is undergoing a metamorphosis, and the future is bright.
New coach Pete Carroll spoke for an extended amount of time with a handful of selected media, away from the bright lights of the podium.
We were there and we have it all for you to watch below:
Additionally, Carroll spoke at the podium for the entire NFL, and below is a partial transcript of that news conference.
Q: Coaching and teaching obviously are evolutionary year to year. What was this season like for you being away from the game, and how did you approach preparing for this next opportunity?
Coach Carroll: "Yeah, this was a really unique season for me, obviously. It wound up being full of grandkids and games, and I saw more football games this year than you can imagine. With all the high school games, JV, Varsity, UW [University of Washington] games, and then of course everybody that's playing all over the league, watching all those games. So it was really a fun offseason in a sense, kind of just extended, but it was really rewarding too because you have an opportunity to look with a whole different vantage point, and in that, I saw things differently than I've seen them in a long time. So I'm hoping I'm going to take advantage of that. So, I'm really excited about getting going again."
Q: What's this month been like? It's been about a month since you've been on the job, looking at your team and kind of finding out about the Raiders through your film work.
Coach Carroll: "It's a really frantic pace to get everything going. Really, hiring the staff is of great demand, getting to know Johnny [John Spytek] and getting things going with him, and all of the stuff for the organization. It's just been a blur, really. And so it's been fun as can be, getting excited about putting the team together and getting to know players. A bunch of players are in the building. So all of that just has been an ongoing process, this really kind of slows down getting here, to tell you the truth, so it's been really fun though."
Q: How much of Chip Kelly's offense were you able to watch at Ohio State? And what really intrigued you to bring him in at your offensive coordinator?
Coach Carroll: "Amazing offense. 2,000-yard rushers, 2,000-yard receivers, National Championship and the whole thing. It was an incredible viewing throughout the season. I was watching them all year long, and so I didn't know that we would get a chance to get it done because I didn't know what he was thinking. But I've been a fan of his for a long time. We met way back in the Oregon days when we went against him at SC [University of Southern California] and all that. And at the time when he was setting the pace of the game in a whole different level, it was a really fun relationship. Following that, he used to come see us in Seattle. So we've had a long-time friendship."
Q: As you evaluate this team and you get to look, what has pleasantly surprised you about the Raiders?
Coach Carroll: "I met a bunch of guys, and I like their outlook and their approach. These guys are really, really hungry, and for obvious reasons, well hungry anyway, but they really want to do something special and make something of this time. Might not seem like it, but our careers go really quickly, and for these guys that are doing the playing, the sense of urgency is really obvious. We've got some highlighted players that I'm excited about. The opportunity to see this thing turned is what really charges me."
