Pete Carroll, 73, is returning to the sidelines. Could he impact the NFC West even more?
Multiple national reports indicate that the Las Vegas Raiders are hiring 73-year-old Pete Carroll as their head coach on a three-year deal with a fourth-year option. The battles between Carroll and Jim Harbaugh will live on.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan exhaled, knowing the Raiders were the last hurdle he had to overcome to hire Robert Saleh as the defensive coordinator.
Carroll has an opportunity to further shake up the NFC West. Earlier this week, it was rumored that the former Seattle Seahawks coach was a darkhorse candidate for the Niners defensive coordinator spot.
Now, as coach of the Raiders — a team without a quarterback — Carroll could call his former team and see what it would take to land Geno Smith. Smith is an unrestricted free agent after this season. Of course, Seattle would have to be in love with one of the quarterbacks in the upcoming NFL Draft, but it’s a conversation that will likely be had. It’s also one I’m sure the 49ers and other NFC West teams would welcome.
As for the 49ers, so long as the New Orleans Saints aren’t secretly planning on hiring Saleh, the Niners have their defensive coordinator, and the only thing left is for the move to be formal.