At least one Super Bowl MVP thinks Pete Carroll's going to do great in his new gig ... Malcolm Smith tells TMZ Sports he's sure the Raiders just hired the right guy!!

Smith, of course, is biased ... he not only won a championship with Carroll in Seattle, but he played for him in college at USC too. Nonetheless, he told us just hours after it was revealed that Carroll was going to Las Vegas that his former boss is going to cook in the Silver and Black.

"I'm so excited for him, man," said Smith, who logged snaps at linebacker in Carroll's Seahawks defenses from 2011-2014. "I think he's going to do an incredible job."

Carroll reportedly signed a three-year deal with the Raiders with a team option for a fourth ... and Smith told us his first order of business should be to find a quarterback.

Smith said a reunion with Russell Wilson might work ... though he urged the team to start fresh with "a young gun."

L.V. currently holds the No. 6 pick in the spring's NFL Draft -- which might give them a chance at Shedeur Sanders.

Either way, Smith tells us he doesn't want to be a coach on Carroll's staff ... although it's clear, he'll have his pom poms ready to go to cheer on PC when it's time for his first game back on an NFL sideline next fall.