- This is not Antonio Pierce’s first time out of Las Vegas. On Friday, the Raiders promoted Pierce from his temporary position as Josh McDaniels’s in-season successor to become the 23rd head coach in the franchise’s history. After taking over, Pierce recorded a 5-4 record, and the Raiders concluded with an 8-9 record, which tied them for their second-highest victory total since moving to Las Vegas in 2020. After leading the Raiders to a 10-7 record in 2021, interim head coach Rich Bisaccia was let go by Jon Gruden. McDaniels was employed before to the 2022 campaign.
The Raiders benched Jimmy Garoppolo in favor of the unproven Aidan O’Connell at quarterback, and they defeated the New York Giants 30–6 as soon as players responded to Pierce. Two of Pierce’s four losses as an interim coach—a 23-20 setback at Indianapolis in Week 17 and a 3-0 home loss to the Vikings—came down to a single possession. After the season, the players approved Pierce to be the head coach full-time, and the Tennessee Titans, who had fired Mike Vrabel, interviewed Pierce for the position.
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Defensive end Maxx Crosby said he would look into trade options if the Raiders didn’t keep Pierce, who also had the vote of former All-Pro Davante Adams. “That’s my vote,” Adams said. “I’ve been vocal about that, and that’s basically how the whole locker room feels with good reason. He’s come in and done a great job and it’s continued to win us over. It’s not just the comfortable thing, I think having AP here would be good for this organization.”
