Watch: OSU's Collin Oliver Sounds Off on Raiders Coaching Staff

HC Pete Carroll

Q: Patrick Graham is someone that had some opportunities elsewhere, what went behind that decision to make sure that he stayed in Las Vegas?

Coach Carroll: "In putting the staff together, I really wanted to see if I could bring some people that had been with me that I could have background with, that could help me share the ideas and the concepts of what we were going to present. I wanted to get guys that had never been with me before, so they had to learn it with us for a couple reasons. One, I wanted the guys that had been with me to help have to teach those guys and to share with them. And then the third element of it, was to get some guys that had been in the program so that they could give us an advantage, a leg up on the continuity that's necessary. Knowing the players, knowing the system, knowing the division, all of that. So there was really three elements of putting it together. Patrick [Graham] and Robbie Leonard were right at the top of the list to get that done. It's been done. It's working out quite well."

Q: You and John Spytek have talked about the collaborative process, but when it comes to something like veto power have you decided on that? 

Coach Carroll: "Yeah, we're going to be collaborative. We're going to do this thing together. It hasn't been any different in the last 20 years that I've been doing this. To me, I'm using everybody that's around me. They're using me in every way that we possibly can, and we're going to work out our decisions, and that's to draw the best that we have to offer. And that means sometimes you got to discuss hard and long to get to the point, but you’ve got to know when to and when not to. John [Spytek] being in his first time doing this job, in particular, he doesn't come across like he's never done this before. He comes across like he's been around. He's gets it. He has a mentality, he has an approach and an idea of what he's all about. I'm going to make that come to life. I'm going to try to help him in every way I possibly can to be just fully prepared and ready and balanced when he makes the choices in a decision that he makes, that we share it. So it's going to be really a good deal."

Q: You're known for prolific offenses, but a lot of people don't know the commitment you have to
running the football. Would you talk about how important that is?

Coach Carroll: "Yeah, to me we get misled by star power in so many different ways in the flashy stuff, but in reality, this game has to be played from some fundamental approaches and aspects of it. And whereas the quarterback position gains all of the attention and all of that, the quarterback position needs to be supported in every way possible so that they can be as effective as they're able to be. And that takes a combination of elements that make up the support of the QB. The running game is a huge element of that. Not just so that you can run the football. It isn’t like three yards in the cloud of dust, that isn’t what we’re talking about. You have to be able to run the football so that you can control your aspect of the game and take care of the ball so that the quarterback isn't under duress, he isn't in issues, he's not behind the sticks, he's not behind the game, he's not behind the score because of the way the defense plays, the way the special teams play, and we try to build a team around the quarterback position. Because as Coach [Bill] Walsh said a long time, it's the hardest position in professional sports to play. We need to do everything we can to facilitate and make it as easy as possible for that guy. So that's why the running game is so fundamental to it. But if you don't take care of the ball, none that matters. So it's really the basics and the foundation of this game that comes to life regardless of what level you're playing at. And that's what I'm saying, I watched all the way through this year. It was so obvious about how the game fits together. And hopefully we'll be able to do every bit of that."

Q: What did your 15 years in Seattle mean and what does it mean to you now?

Coach Carroll: "They were great years. It was, and it's still home to me. It's still home. I never would have known, had I not been hanging around the area this year, how much of a connection we have made with the community and the people. The fans and the people that I meet running through the airports and in the streets wherever we're going, have been so gracious, and it's had an obvious effect on me of how we did relate to the time we were together. And I'm really grateful for that. I'm really grateful for that. I didn't have the idea that there was that much of an exchange. Like I said even coming here too to the Raiders, my job isn't just the team to me. It extends beyond that. It extends to our fans. It extends to the people that support us and fill our stadium up and make it hard to play in because we're filling every seat and all of that. They're helping us win, so we're all in this thing together, and in taking that effort to Seattle, we're rewarded so extraordinarily because of the 12 and the way that they love their teams and all. So, it was an unforgettable relationship, and I'm never going to lose connection with that. I just don't want to, and so I'm going to do everything I can to stay connected as much as possible."

Q: When you put together your coaching staff, you brought a lot of guys from the college level and brought them up to your staff. How beneficial do you think that will be in terms of evaluating draft potential and also just and also just bringing the most out of your roster? Coach Carroll: "It's a really good point that you're observing. The guys coming out of college football have a connection with the players, and not just the ones on their own teams, but the players that they've been playing against, the guys they've seen through recruiting. They've known these kids that are playing for years, and so in this draft in particular, and as it affected us when we started in Seattle, we really hit it in the middle to lower round picks, because I think we had better intel than maybe guys that hadn't had that opportunity to connect to college. So it's important to me to try to mix that. If you notice we've been able to do that some. So it's a real benefit."

Q: You played Matthew Stafford an awful lot in your career. Obviously, the Rams have made him
available to other teams. Would you guys do your due diligence? Make a phone call, look at all avenues to find a quarterback, including Matthew Stafford?

Coach Carroll: "He's already on a team. I'm sure John [Spytek] probably said something about it, we're not talking about guys on other clubs. But the quarterback position is going to be highly contested, and if you look back at when we started at Seattle, and how we built the competition to find the proper guy that would take over in that job, that was a very intricate, elaborate process. And then you saw Russ [Russell Wilson] won the competition was because it was a wide open competition that was very well designed and organized, and it worked out fine. So, however this goes, our guys are all going to take a shot at it, and we've got guys on the roster right now that are fighting their tails off to see if they can own that position. We're going to give them a chance."