Geno Smith’s Will to Compete With Russell Wilson for the QB1 Spot in Seattle Won Over Pete Carroll’s Heart

Geno Smith and Pete Carroll share one of the more unique player-coach relationships in the NFL.

It all began quietly in Seattle, where Smith arrived as a backup with a battered reputation, while Carroll was coaching one of the league’s most entrenched starters in Russell Wilson.

So naturally, Smith looked like a depth piece from the outside. But inside the building, Carroll saw something else.

“Geno’s no different than he was the first day we got him,” Carroll recently said (via NFL Network).

“I knew that he had had some hardships… but soon after he arrived, he recognized that Russell was the starter and he was the backup. And it was how he embraced that challenge that changed everything for me about who he is.”

This challenge wasn’t just about preparing for the occasional spot snap. It was also about staying locked in, competing like a QB1, and waiting for a door that might never open.

“Every day he came to practice, came to work, he was thinking that, ‘I know the very next play I might be the starting quarterback,’” Carroll recalled. “That connection never left him.”

Geno Smith spent four years without meaningful playing time. But he never drifted or checked out. Instead, he sharpened himself. And when his opportunity finally came in 2022, after Wilson was traded to Denver, he hit the ground running and never looked back.

In 37 games under Carroll, Smith threw for 8,641 yards, 55 touchdowns, and 21 interceptions. In this period, he made two Pro Bowls and brought instant credibility to a post-Russell Seattle. But it wasn’t just the production that the now Raiders HC appreciated. It was the way Smith carried himself.

“He’s trying to make me the best I can be, and I’m trying to make him the best he can be. We’re willing to challenge each other to get that done because we’re both competitors,” Carroll added about their dynamic.

“It’s not just friendship. It’s the shared experience.”@Raiders head coach Pete Carroll talks about how important it was to bring @GenoSmith3 to the Silver and Black ⬇️ @OmarDRuiz @cfrelund pic.twitter.com/itsCEihdlP

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) August 4, 2025

Now reunited in Las Vegas with the Raiders, their connection is the foundation of a fresh chapter. “We’re connected at the hip,” Carroll joked. “We have so much background… And now he comes out the other end of that time frame, and he’s an elite quarterback in the league.”

For Smith, the road to QB1 has been long and unglamorous. But his will to compete, even in silence, turned a backup role into a story Carroll now calls one of his favorites. And it all started with the quiet belief that no matter who stood in front of him, the job was never out of reach.

For a franchise like the Raiders, which hasn’t had success at the center in recent times, perhaps it’s characters like Smith that they always needed to inspire belief and faith.