Chargers block Pete Carroll’s Raiders from interviewing a Jim Harbaugh
Former Seahawks assistant coach Sanjay Lal will not be joining Carroll in Las Vegas.
With Pete Carroll joining the Las Vegas Raiders, the former Seattle Seahawks head coach has already been busy getting the gang back together.
Carroll has already hired John Glenn (who was in Seattle from 2012-2023) as their new linebackers coach. Carroll has also brought over VP
of coaching operations Matt Cappuro over from Seattle (2010-2024) to serve in the same role.
However, one former Seahawks coach under Carroll will not be making their way to Las Vegas. Sanjay Lal, who was with Seattle in 2020 (as senior offensive assistant) and in 2022-2023 (as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach), received an interview request from the Raiders. However, the Raiders were requesting Lal to interview for the pass-game coordinator and wide receivers coaching position. Thus, the Los Angeles Chargers (coached by longtime Carroll rival, Jim Harbaugh), whom Lal currently holds the same positions with, are able to block this interview, which is exactly what they did.
The NFL coach hiring policy allows for NFL teams to block interview requests that are considered lateral moves. This means since Lal would have been interviewing for the same exact positions (pass-game coordinator and wide receivers coach), that his current employer, the Chargers (Harbaugh), can block this interview from happening. Just another chapter in the Carroll vs. Harbaugh rivalry.
Some may argue this is a flawed policy in that it prevents freedom of movement for the coaches. However, this same policy also helps promote younger coaches from getting promotions. Essentially, if Carroll and the Raiders are interested enough in getting Lal to Las Vegas, they still can, if they put in an offensive-coordinator interview request in for Lal. However, it doesn’t look like that may happen, as the Raiders have been rumored to be looking at another former Seahawk at offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell.
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