Andy Reid is seeking his third consecutive Super Bowl victory with the Chiefs after relinquishing his title as the oldest head coach in the NFL. The 66-year-old Reid was supplanted when the Raiders hired Pete Carroll, who will turn 74 on Sept. 15 and become the oldest head coach in NFL history.
Romeo Crennel has eight months remaining in his reign as the oldest NFL head coach at 73 years and 199 days. That was his age when he was the Texans interim coach in 2020. The season was also Crennel’s last after 50 years in the NFL and a 32-63 record as a head coach.
The Texans went through two head coaches (David Culley and Love Smith) in two years until hiring DeMeco Ryans in 2023 when he was 38. Ryans is now one of seven head coaches who are 40 or younger. Sean McVay was 30 when the Rams made him the youngest head coach in history in 2017. He is now 38 and one year older than Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald.
With Carroll taking over for Antonio Pierce, 46, all four head coaches in the AFC West are older than 60. The Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh and the Broncos’ Sean Payton are both 61. This season was Payton’s second in Denver and the Broncos qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
This season was Harbaugh’s first with the Chargers, who reached the playoffs after going 11-6 to finish with 10 or more victories for just fourth time in the past 16 seasons. Three AFC West teams advanced to the playoffs for the first time since Denver, Kansas City and San Diego did so in 2013.
And then there are the Raiders, who have shot themselves in the collective foot so often that their cleats look like Crocs. They have gone through more head coaches (15) than any other NFL team since 2000 and are proud owners of the fourth-worst record (161-243) since the turn of the century.
Hiring Carroll is a short-term solution for a team in need of long-term stability. The Seahawks had it with Carroll for 14 seasons. The Steelers have had it for 18 seasons with Mike Tomlin, the Ravens for 17 with John Harbaugh and the Chiefs for 14 with Reid. Their combined record is 493-263-2.
Tomlin was hired by the Steelers on Jan. 27, 2007, four days after the Raiders named Lane Kiffin as their head coach. Kiffin made it four games into his second season before being fired. The Raiders have not had a head coach manage to survive three seasons since Jon Gruden from 1998 to 2001.
Speaking of not lasting three seasons, none of the Raiders’ first-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021 made it past two. Wide receiver Henry Ruggs III and cornerback Damon Arnette were the 12th and 19th overall picks in 2020, respectively, but both were waived in 2022 after running afoul of the law.
Top that off with offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood going from being the 17th pick in 2021 to being let go a year later. The 2020 Outland Trophy winner had been projected to go in the second round at the earliest. At least the Raiders made a smart pick in the second round by taking safety Trevon Moehrig.
And let’s not forget quarterback JaMarcus Russell, one of the biggest busts in history after being the first overall pick in 2007. He made it halfway through his six-year, $61 million contact (with $32 million guaranteed) before being cut after receiving more than $36 million and never playing again.
Russell made news last June when he was let go as a volunteer assistant coach at Williamson High, his alma mater, in Mobile, Ala. He was accused of keeping a $74,000 check he received from a local business as a donation to the school. He reportedly deposited the check and then withdrew $55,000.
Stability at quarterback arrived in 2014 when Derek Carr was drafted in the second round. His nine-year stay bridging the move from Oakland to Las Vegas ended in 2023 when the Raiders benched him for the last two games. They did not want to risk Carr getting injured and losing his trade value.
Carr had a no-trade clause, so he should have his pick of suitors. The Raiders narrowed his choice to the Saints by not allowing him to talk to any other team. Carr signed with the Saints and left the Raiders wasting millions of dollars on Jimmy Garoppolo in 2023 and Gardner Minshew this season.
The Raiders have not drafted a quarterback in the first three rounds since Carr, but that is likely to change April 24 when the 2025 draft kicks off. They were nearly guaranteed of having a shot at Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders until winning two of their final three games to fall to the No. 6 pick.
The Titans and Giants will pick first and third, respectively, and both teams are as desperate as the Raiders to find their quarterback of the future. The Browns could also take a quarterback at No. 2. Even when the Raiders win as they did in Weeks 16 and 17, they still manage to find a way to lose.
