Just one day after thinking he would be spared coach Antonio Pierce got a rude awakening and a modest winning streak to close out the 2024 campaign could not save his job.
The Las Vegas Raiders fired their head coach Tuesday afternoon, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo reported, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
“We appreciate Antonio’s leadership, first as an interim head coach and this past season as the head coach. Antonio grew up a Raiders fan and his Silver and Black roots run deep. We are grateful for his ability to reignite what it means to be a Raider throughout the entire organization. We wish nothing but the best for Antonio and his family in the future,” the team said in a statement.
Pierce spoke to reporters in a press conference on Monday, a day after his team’s season-ending loss to Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers and said he had not “heard anything different” regarding him staying on as head coach. The time for talking is over. The Raiders will indeed be going in a different direction.
Pierce compiled a 9-17 record in one and a half seasons as the leader of the team. The former linebacker took over as the interim on Halloween night, midway through the 2023 season and was hired for the full-time job in 2024. A 4-13 campaign in 2024 included an unacceptable 10-game losing streak (Weeks 5-15). During the skid, Pierce dismissed offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who came over from the Chicago Bears and promoted Scott Turner as interim OC.
The Raiders showed some signs of life, winning two of their final three games, knocking off the Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints before falling to the playoff-bound Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18. Even that swell of positive momentum could not save Pierce’s job.
The quarterback position was the biggest downfall for the Raiders making significant strides in 2024. Vegas came into the season without the luxury of a franchise quarterback, conducting a QB competition between Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell. Pierce choose to go with the veteran Minshew out of the gate. The coach then benched his starter after five weeks and a 2-3 record. O’Connell did not have the magic touch through two starts before getting injured in Week 7. Minshew reclaimed the starting gig before eventually sustaining a season-ending injury. Pierce was forced to go into his bullpen and start Desmond Ridder for a Week 15 game against the Atlanta Falcons before returning to O’Connell to end the season.
The quarterback issues plagued a Raiders club that still had a talent deficit on both sides of the ball, and glaring depth concerns were in neon lights once injuries reared their ugly head.
There were some glimmers of hope sprinkled into a down season, including rookie tight end Brock Bowers out of Georgia shattering records. The defense had some bright moments, finishing in the middle of the pack being 15th in yards allowed and 15th in passing yards, an improvement on recent seasons.
However, there were far too many lows that outweighed the positives. During the 10-game losing streak, the Raiders were undisciplined and plagued by penalties, avoidable mistakes, coaching miscues and an inability to make plays in clutch situations. There were no standout players on the 53-man roster to lift up and galvanize all the issues
A former play for the Washington franchise and New York Giants linebacker, Pierce first began his coaching journey at Long Beach Poly High School (2014-17). He moved up the ranks quickly to college, joining the Arizona State Sun Devil staff (2018-2021). Pierce signed on as linebackers coach in Vegas under Josh McDaniels in 2022 before eventually taking over as the interim in 2023.
Parting ways with Pierce sets up the Raiders to make their third coaching hire in the last three seasons. Vegas has been to the playoffs only twice in the past 22 seasons and has not won a postseason game since making the Super Bowl in 2002 under Jon Gruden.
With Maxx Crosby, Brock Bowers, Christian Wilkins and Jakobi Meyers, there are some building blocks for the next head coach to work with. The key will be finally finding a franchise quarterback to take Mark Davis’ organization to the next level.
Minority owner Tom Brady is expected to play a huge role in the search. The Raiders have the 7th overall pick in the draft.
