Matt Calkins: Is fired Raiders coach Pete Carroll a Hall of Famer? I'd vote yes.

Matt Calkins, The Seattle Times on Jan 5, 2026

Published in Football

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SEATTLE — Upon going 0-3 with the Indianapolis Colts after returning to the NFL at age 44, quarterback Philip Rivers said he had no regrets and would do it all over again. You could tell he meant it. The man savored every moment on the field despite the lack of victories.

As for Pete Carroll coaching the Las Vegas Raiders at 74? It's impossible to think he felt the same way.

Carroll was fired Monday after one season in Las Vegas, as his team finished 3-14. The only boon his hiring may have spawned was securing the Raiders the first overall pick in next spring's NFL draft.

Pete's shortcomings in Sin City might draw parallels to another name from the Seahawks' Super Bowl era — one Russell Wilson — as his post-Seattle days seem to have only damaged his legacy. So with Carroll almost certainly having coached his final NFL game, it's worth asking: Is he a Hall of Famer?

No doubt he is a legend in the Emerald City as the only coach to lead the Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory. And though he OK'd a play call that resulted in a game-ending interception in their attempt to repeat, he is still royalty in this town.

But a Seattle scepter is a lot different from a gold jacket. Has Carroll earned his way into Canton, Ohio?

His record, including the postseason, is 184-145-1. His 173 regular-season wins rank him 16th all time. Carroll's consistency with the Seahawks is particularly noteworthy, as he made the playoffs in 10 of his 14 seasons. For any coach to survive with an NFL franchise for nearly a decade and a half is an achievement in its own right.

As far as the 15 coaches that are ahead of him on the win total? Six are HOFers, with folks such as Bill Belichick and Andy Reid as shoo-in future inductees, and men such as Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh and Sean Payton on the cusp.

But it isn't easy for a coach to crack into the Hall. Some notable names that haven't been enshrined:

— Mike Shanahan, who won 170 regular-season games and two Super Bowls as coach of the Denver Broncos.

— Tom Coughlin, who also has 170 wins and won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants.

— Mike Holmgren, who accumulated 161 regular-season victories, leading Green Bay to a title and the Seahawks to a Super Bowl appearance.

— And Marty Schottenheimer, who is eighth on the all-time win list with 200 (although without a Super Bowl appearance).

One has to think that if the Seahawks were able to score from the 1-yard line against the Patriots nearly 11 years ago then Carroll would be a guarantee. As it happens, that so close but so far result in Glendale, Ariz., may apply to Canton as well.

Carroll's accomplishments at USC — though muddied by scandal — don't (or, at least, shouldn't) apply to his Pro Football Hall of Fame case. These are independent ventures. And though his win total is noteworthy — 19 of his past 28 victories came during years in which his teams missed the playoffs.

The good news is that there are coaches in Canton who accomplished less. Bill Cowher has 149 wins in 15 seasons and one Super Bowl win. He's in. Tony Dungy had 139 wins in 13 seasons and one Super Bowl win. He's in. Mike Ditka has 121 wins in 14 seasons and one Super Bowl win (although it was with the 1985 Bears, considered by many to be the greatest team ever). He's in.

The process is somewhat arbitrary. Whether this works in Carroll's favor is to be determined.

One thing few will dispute is that Pete is among the most charismatic coaches to ever wear a headset. When you think of who should have been at the helm of those Legion of Boom Seahawks teams — defined by some of the largest personalities in NFL history — Carroll seems like the perfect fit.

Narrative matters when carving out a legacy, and the narrative mostly favors Carroll. You just wonder if that Super Bowl loss and spiral with the Raiders this year will hurt him.

Personally, I'd vote him in. Maybe not on the first ballot, but his achievements surpass many current Hall of Famers, and he is one of the more indelible personalities in the history of the league.

His final season may have ended with a thud. The rest of his career, however, was thunderous.

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