If we’ve learned nothing else from this season for the Raiders, it’s just how important a head coach is to the equation in terms of the on field production. Going straight from Josh McDaniels to Antonio Pierce mid-season offered a perfect sample of this. As we saw this team go from bumbling to inspired in an instant.
With the same talent on the field — aside from the switch at QB from Jimmy Garoppolo to Aidan O’Connell — the Raiders offense went from failing to crack 20 points while giving up 23.4 points per game to four times scoring at least 20 while giving up a league-best 16.25 points per game.
The secret was Antonio Pierce’s genuine personality. It isn’t smoke an mirrors, it’s just about getting his players to believe in themselves and play their hearts out every game.
Pierce is a former player whose players respond to him. He isn’t just a coach to them, he’s a teammate. And most importantly, he empowers them to bring each other up because he knows that it doesn’t matter where the message comes from, just that it’s delivered.
The one player, obviously, who has earned the most respect from his teammates to rally them is Maxx Crosby, who was seen on the sideline late in the Sunday’s loss to the Colts pumping up the Raiders defensive players.
“I love it. I’ve always loved to see the players take control, especially on game day. When they’re between the white lines, they’re in control,” Pierce said. “Obviously, as coaches we’re giving them information that they need to either fix a play or continue to do better. And when there’s a problem or you feel a certain way, as a captain and as a leader, and a face of this organization, it was a proud moment for me to see. Because I was talking to Spil [Robert Spillane] and I was wondering why I was getting pulled away. He told me, ‘Get the eff away.’ I didn’t know what was going on, I thought I did something wrong, but he gathered the troops, and they had their conversation which is really good to see. You like to see that amongst your whole team, offense, defense, special teams, but obviously from a guy like Maxx who’s young and obviously he’s going to be a really, really good football player, but also a really good leader and a man.”
Crosby has been very vocal in wanting Pierce back as Raiders head coach. We don’t know yet if that will happen, but if Pierce isn’t back, whoever the new head coach is, he must have that same quality the players respond to.
Who might that be? Well, I’m glad you asked because as it happens, the NFLPA polled over 1700 players recently to rate the coordinators they play for. The results are in and among them are a few who have been mentioned as Raiders head coaching candidates.
As the hiring cycle approaches, this is interesting: The NFL Players Association asked over 1,700 players to rate the coordinators they play for on a scale of 1-10.
Here are the top five at each spot, including the No. 1 overall vote-getter: #Lions DC Aaron Glenn. pic.twitter.com/1RuFpXXawc
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 4, 2024
The top offensive coordinator was that of Frank Smith of the Dolphins. His name should be familiar to Raiders fans because he spent three seasons as the tight ends coach with the Raiders from 2018-20.
Other players to make the top five on offense or defense who have been mentioned as potential candidates for the Raiders include Chargers OC Kellen Moore (fifth), Cowboys DC Dan Quinn (third), and Rams DC Raheem Morris (fifth).
If the next head coach comes in making it all about him, his ego, and his genius, this team will not respond to that. We’ve seen that formula fail with the last three Raiders coaching hires at least.
It’s time for Mark Davis to end that streak and either bring back Pierce or find a coach who has the same uplifting qualities to which they clearly respond.