Raiders DBs coach excited about defense: ‘We’re talented at all 3 levels’
Pete Carroll didn’t just retain defensive coordinator Patrick Graham when he took over as Raiders coach in January. He bolstered his staff by hiring a defensive backs coach in Joe Woods that had been an NFL defensive coordinator the last five years.
Woods, 54, ran the Browns defense from 2020 to 2022 and the Saints defense in 2023 and 2024. He has been in the NFL since 2004 and won Super Bowl 50 as the Broncos defensive backs coach.
Woods sat down with the Review-Journal to discuss building the Raiders defense, his soft spot for Carroll and his thoughts on some of the players he’s coaching this year:
RJ: You’ve been in this business a long time. Did you have any previous experience with Carroll?
Woods: It’s funny. I started my NFL career in Tampa Bay. I was a quality control coach and Monte Kiffin was the defensive coordinator. He had a desk calendar with about 100 numbers on it and tells me to go call coach Pete. I had to go in there and look at the calendar. I find it and get on the phone. I’m like, ‘This is Joe Woods calling for coach Kiffin and he’d like to speak to coach Pete.’ I did it a few times and I was always wondering, ‘Who the heck is coach Pete?’ So I go into the staff room and asked Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris. … They were like, ‘Man, that’s Pete Carroll.’ He was the coach at USC at the time and that’s how I first encountered coach Carroll and (I) got to know him a bit through the years. There were times he sat down and helped me just in terms of some different coaching techniques, so there was a bond there and a little bit of a relationship that developed through the years. He always used to have a layover in Minnesota when he was flying to the combine and I was with the Vikings. We’re sitting in the airport one day and he’s teaching me technique for 45 minutes. That’s just who he is. I’ve always remembered that and the opportunity to come work for him, I just couldn’t say no. But all the guys he’s worked with say that about him. I was in San Francisco with Robert Saleh. I coached with Dan Quinn. I know Gus Bradley. All the guys that have coached under him, all the positive things they have said in terms of the culture he creates, how he runs an organization, I was just so excited to come and work with him. You have to live up to the Legion of Boom, but having him in my corner is great. I’m excited.
RJ: The Raiders have struggled in recent years, but there is a lot of optimism around the building. What makes you confident things are going to turn around?
Woods: First, I think we’re talented at all three levels of the defense. You look at our defensive line, you look at the linebackers we brought in and the secondary, and I think it’s just time on the job. We have to learn these defensive schemes like the back of our hand and then we have to go out on the field and execute, but I definitely feel like we have (the) pieces to play good defense. But again, that will work itself out over time.
RJ: You spent the 2014 season in Oakland as the Raiders defensive backs coach. How different is the organization now?
Woods: I think the biggest thing working for the Raiders is the history and the tradition of the organization. It’s just a team that you always want to coach for. And for me to be able to come back, be involved in that, work for Mr. Davis again and work under coach Carroll, (it) was just something I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to do. So I’m so excited to be back.
RJ: Your last two jobs, in Cleveland and New Orleans, were as defensive coordinator. How much of a change is it to go back to being a defensive backs coach?
Woods: It’s really not difficult. I’ve always been a guy that, when I was coordinator, relied on the coaches that were with me. Because they’re all experts in their position, whether it’s defensive line or linebacker, so there was always a lot of input in terms of what we did and in terms of how we game planned. So for me, that’s all I’m trying to be is that voice for (Graham). So I’m definitely trying to get accomplished what he wants done. But at the same time, when he asks me for any advice or any ideas that I have, I always speak up. So it’s been very comfortable. Coach Carroll’s in there and he’s always involved, too. So it’s been very exciting.
RJ: Carroll loves to coach defensive backs. Graham is a different coach with his own style. You have your own ideas as well. How has this all come together?
Woods: It’s been a great process. The thing is that coach Carroll is very open. The foundation of the defense is going to be based on what he’s done, but Patrick has done some different things and some really good things defensively. They played well last year. So we’re combining that. And there’s a few ideas that I’ve (had) as far as being a defensive coordinator. So we’re incorporating a few things, but it’s been a great process. A lot of long meetings, man, but we’re really working out the defense.
RJ: Is Pete out there on the practice field trying to play defensive back for you?
Woods: Man, you see him out there with the gloves on every day. But really just the energy he brings makes you feel like when I first got to the NFL again. When I first went down to Tampa working for Monte Kiffin and Jon Gruden was the head coach, I have that same type of feel again with coach Carroll. He reminds me so much of Monte Kiffin. It’s just a lot of football. Everybody’s presenting their ideas. We’re watching tape, figuring things out. So it’s been really fun.
RJ: You mentioned your connection with Carroll, but how did you actually come to join his staff?
Woods: He got the (Raiders) job and we had been let go in New Orleans. I was out interviewing for a couple of jobs actually and I was somewhere else. I was headed to the airport and he had called. I see the phone and (Carroll) was like, ‘Hey Joe, if you have time, I’d like to interview you.’ I was like, ‘Coach, I’m headed to the airport. I’m walking out the door for an interview.’ He said to give him a call when I got to the airport. So I’m there, sitting at the airport bar on FaceTime, interviewing with him before flying out to another team. I ended up going there and taking the interview, but he called me later that night and said, ‘Hey, I’d like to offer you a job.’ I was in.
RJ: What are your thoughts on Las Vegas so far?
Woods: I love Vegas. It’s different living here and it’s a lot different than we were in Alameda, (California). Everything just feels new out here. It feels exciting. I know there’s a lot of things you can do. Great food, entertainment. Try to stay out of the casinos, but I really like this environment.
RJ: Rookie third-round pick Darien Porter is massive and has all the physical traits you want in a cornerback, but doesn’t have much experience. What have you seen from him so far?
Woods: There’s a prototype just for all of us guys that coach defensive backs that was created through Seattle and what coach Carroll was doing there. Then all the guys I’ve coached with that came through there understand that prototype. And Darien has the size, he has elite speed, great length, very smart. I remember we saw him at the combine and were like, ‘Who is this guy?’ We got back and got on the tape, so we ID’d him early as a guy that we like because he fits the system. And as far as the experience, we see that as an opportunity to mold him like clay. But the thing is that he’s so smart. He understands football and he knows that he’s only going to get better because he only played one year, really, of DB at Iowa State. That was a conversation we had when we did the Zoom call with him. But yeah, we’re excited to work with him. You see him improving every day and I think the sky’s the limit.
RJ: Third-year cornerback Jakorian Bennett is another smart player. What have you seen from him so far and how important is intelligence to you?
Woods: It’s huge. Because there’s a lot more things you can do defensively, whether it’s just a scheme itself, whether it’s checking defenses, whether it’s understanding what teams are trying to do offensively. So that definitely plays a part. But he’s had a good offseason so far, too. All those guys compete and that’s all we’re doing. We’ll put them out there and give them a chance to compete for the starting position and they’ve all been battling this whole offseason.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.