When the Las Vegas Raiders hired Pete Carroll as head coach this offseason, it was a bit of a surprise that he retained defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. Most new coaches opt to hire “their guys” to the coaching staff, especially within their area of expertise, and Carroll is defensive-minded.
The 73-year-old has been a DC at four different stops during his long-tenured career and has had 12 top 10 defenses in points allowed during his NFL career as a coordinator or head coach. For good measure, when Carroll was the Seattle Seahawks' head coach, Seattle’s defense ranked first in points allowed for four years in a row, 2012 to 2015.