Tag: Antonio Pierce

Saints interim coach lumped into a group of the coaching cycle’s losers

There won’t be any interim coaches retained this coaching cycle, so B/R has that group as one of the offseason’s biggest losers:

The New Orleans Saints have yet to finalize a deal with Kellen Moore to be the next head coach, but the only impediment is waiting for Moore’s season to be over.

That would mean the Saints would pass over Darren Rizzi and no interim coaches will be retained.

The Saints, New York Jets and Chicago Bears all fired their coach midseason and went outside of the building for their newest head coach.

Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton called interim head coaches one of the coaching cycle’s biggest losers. He believes Antonio Pierce’s quick departure from the Las Vegas Raiders could have played a part in team’s reluctance to commit to interim coaches.

A larger contributing factor could be the lack of success of interim coaches in 2024. Pierce had a winning record as an interim coach. The three teams with an interim coach are all picking inside the top-10.

Rizzi may be a part of the loser group, but he doesn’t need sympathy. He’s one of the top special teams coordinators in the league and already has his next job lined up.

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Raiders 2024 season Busters

Rounding up all the performances that most contributed to the Raiders struggles in 2024.

We’ve detailed the Raiders 2024 season Ballers. Now we move on to the second part…

Busters

HC Antonio Pierce, OC Luke Getsy

This team was doomed from the start. The team had little of the mojo it had over the latter half of last season. And having one of the worst offenses in the league was not helping.

Pierce was out of his depth in terms of game management and while he preached not getting too high or low, no one rode the emotional roller coaster more than he did.

Getsy simply walked in a ruined any chance the Oline had of succeeding by changing up their blocking scheme. The result was disastrous.

In the the nine games with Getsy still in place, either he or Pierce (or both) were a Buster six times. And three times a Top Buster.

QB Gardner Minshew

For all the talk about how the Raiders should have gone with Aidan O’Connell from the start, Minshew did actually look better in training camp. Even though it was clearly a lesser of the evils situation. Then Minshew went out and looked downright terrible. He had one good game — that miracle win in Baltimore. Outside of that, he was a Buster six times, and twice a Top Buster.

CB DeCamerion Richardson

He was thrust into a starting role when he was not ready for it. Jakorian Bennett was lost for the season and the rookie Richardson was the Raiders best option. He routinely got torched by opposing receivers and was named a Buster four times over the final eight games, including twice a Top Buster.

S Isaiah Pola-Mao

Pola-Mao also stepped in as an injury replacement. And overall, he showed enough that he could get a shot. That game he had with two forced fumbles spoke well of him. But he has some work still to do, including his penchant for not keeping his head up when he tackles. He was a Top Buster three times down the stretch.

LT Kolton Miller, RT DJ Glaze

This was tough. Because the blocking scheme put Miller in a tough spot early in the season and Glaze is a rookie. The result was Miller giving up seven sacks along with seven penalties, while Glaze gave up three sacks with eight penalties.

The two of them could be the Raiders starting tackles for years to come, so it’s important not to take this as a judgment of their talents. Glaze showed a lot of signs he will be a talented tackle in this league and Miller just had a down year, from which I expect he will bounce back.

RB Zamir White

White came on strong late last season when he had a fresh body and the rest of the NFL did not. I was still skeptical he could sustain it because I hadn’t seen anything special about his running abilities. And this year he was an utter liability. He was a Buster three times in eight games and every other back the Raiders played looked like an upgrade.

See the Ballers

Retired Giant wants to see Antonio Pierce return as DC

One former member of the New York Giants would like to see Antonio Pierce return as the team’s defensive coordinator.

Now that the New York Giants’ ownership has decided to retain general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, what changes will be made following the Giants’ 3-14 season?

Some expect the Giants to make a move to replace defensive coordinator Shane Bowen after just one year. After all, his defensive unit certainly disappointed in 2024.

Coincidentally, following his firing by the Las Vegas Raiders, former Giant and Super Bowl champion Antonio Pierce is now available.

One of Pierce’s former Giant teammates believes New York should look to bring him in to join Daboll’s staff as their defensive coordinator.

Pierce, of course, took over as the Raiders interim head coach mid-season in 2023 and Vegas decided to hire him last offseason as their full-time head coach.

The former Giants captain was reportedly one of the “top targets” for the team last offseason to fill the void at defensive coordinator after the Giants and Wink Martindale parted ways.

Tynes and Pierce were teammates for three years and won Super Bowl XLII with the Giants. Tynes is active on X and often weighs in on the status of his former team.

While there is no current vacancy for the Giants at defensive coordinator, should it become available, they would likely explore the possibility of bringing in their former captain as their defensive coordinator.

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Raiders head coach interview tracker

Tracking all the movement on the Raiders head coaching search front.

Two days after the 2024 NFL season came to a close, the Raiders fired head coach Antonio Pierce. Two days later, they fired GM Tom Telesco, opening up both positions and allowing for both to come as a pair.

Here are a the head coach candidates who have been rumored or reported so far:

Lions OC Ben Johnson

Raiders have requested an interview with him.

Virtual interview with Johnson is scheduled for Friday, January 10.

Johnson called a “name to watch” for Raiders job

Bears finalizing deal to hire Ben Johnson as head coach

Lions DC Aaron Glenn

Raiders have requested an interview with him.

Raiders have scheduled an interview with Glenn for Friday, January 10.

Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo

Raiders have requested an interview with him.

Raiders will interview Spagnuolo on Friday, January 10

Ravens OC Todd Monken

Raiders have requested an interview with him.

Former Seahawks HC Pete Carroll

Raiders will interview Carroll next week.

Former Jets HC Robert Saleh

Raiders interviewed Saleh Thursday, January 16.

Broncos DC Vance Joseph

Raiders have requested an interview with him.

Former Commanders/Panthers HC Ron Rivera

Raiders interview Rivera on Friday, January 17.

North Carolina HC Bill Belichick

Raiders have inquired if he would back out of his new contract at UNC and return to the NFL. Raiders minority owner Tom Brady is said to have spoken with Belichick in recent days.

Former Titans HC Mike Vrabel

The Patriots have hired Mike Vrabel as their next head coach.

Raiders didn’t interview Vrabel because he told Tom Brady of his intentions to take the New England job.

This article will be updated as more reports come in either on the above candidates or additional candidates emerge.

After Antonio Pierce firing, the Raiders paid 3 coaches NOT to work for them

The Raiders are paying another coach to not coach.

The Las Vegas Raiders are in the market for a head coach again after parting ways with Antonio Pierce on Tuesday after just 26 games.

For those keeping count, the next coach will be their fifth in the last five years after they replaced Jon Gruden with Rich Bisaccia in 2021, hired Josh McDaniels in 2022 and replaced him with Pierce in 2023.

Like Bisaccia, Pierce originally got the job on an interim basis, and like Gruden and McDaniels he was eventually hired full-time. He also follows in their footsteps as the third coach the Raiders will have to pay to not coach the team.

McDaniels still had four years left on his deal when the Raiders fired him last November. Gruden had six years left when he put himself in hot water with those awful emails. The details of Pierce’s deal aren’t as clear, but he said in December “I’m under contract” when asked about his job status in 2025. So it’s safe to assume the Raiders will have to honor his contract too.

Las Vegas Raiders fire head coach Antonio Pierce

Antonio Pierce is out as Raiders coach

The Las Vegas Raiders are in the market for a head coach … again.

It was reported on Tuesday that Antonio Pierce was fired after his first full season as head coach.

He was 5-4 as interim coach in 2023 and the Raiders players went to owner Mark Davis saying they wanted Pierce back.

Pierce got the fulltme head coaching gig but it was a dismal season. The Raiders went 4-13.

They had all sorts of issues and injuries at quarterback with Gardner Minshew, Desmond Ridder, and Aidan O’Connell. playing at times.

Las Vegas started the season 2-2 and then lost 10 in a row before beating the Jaguars and Saints.

The season concluded with a loss to the Chargers.

It will be fascinating to see what direction this search takes. Could Tom Brady being a minority owner of the team have influence?

And this answers that.

Raiders fire head coach Antonio Pierce after one season

Antonio Pierce is out after one season as Raiders head coach.

Despite Antonio Pierce’s seeming confidence at his Monday press conference he would remain the head coach of the Raiders, Pierce has been fired after one season. The team made the move official early Tuesday afternoon.

Pierce went 4-13 in his only season as Raiders head coach, including a streak of ten-straight losses.

At his Monday press conference, Pierce took to the podium in a Raiders starter jacket and talked about this and Tom Telesco’s plans for attacking the roster in the offseason, adding that the noise about him being fired was only coming from outside the building, not inside of it.

Well, while Mark Davis may not have been making any noise about it, he was apparently quietly considering other candidates for the job to replace Pierce.

It isn’t a big surprise to see the Raiders move on from Pierce after one season. The team that had rallied around him as interim head coach in 2023 was in shambles by the third game of the season, no doubt leading to the ten-game losing streak. It’s hard to keep your job with a streak like that no matter who you are.

Confident Antonio Pierce sees no changes on Raiders coaching staff

Antonio Pierce sure sounds like he’s keeping his job and wants to run it back with the same coaching staff.

It seemed very possible that when Antonio Pierce took to the podium Sunday night after the Raiders lost their 13th game of the season to the Los Angeles Chargers, that it could be the last time he appeared before the media as Raiders head coach.

At the time, the Raiders had his usual press conference scheduled for Monday morning, but, obviously, if he were not retained as head coach, that press conference wouldn’t happen.

In that vein, the first, best sign for Pierce’s future as Raiders head coach was that the press conference did take place at all.

Monday morning, the embattled Pierce stepped behind the podium at the Raiders facility in Henderson Nevada not looking at all like a coach who was worried about his job.

The former NFL linebacker who grew up a Raiders fan in Los Angeles was sporting a vintage looking Raiders Starter jacket and appeared relaxed and ready to head into his second offseason as Raiders head coach.

Right away, he didn’t give his recent usual response of “no comment” to the inevitable questions about his job status, stating that he hadn’t been told anything different. And that the noise was all coming from outside the building, not inside of it. Seemingly calling back to a couple weeks ago when he said all of his conversations with owner Mark Davis had been positive.

From there, he was asked if he anticipated any coaching change. To which he said flatly “No.”

As the head coach of the team, that answer would seem to apply to him as well. And his answer would also suggest he expects to continue to be the one making those decisions.

Pierce had made some changes on the offensive staff earlier in the season, with the most notable firings being offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and offensive line coach James Cregg. To replace them he made Passing Game Coordinator Scott Turner interim OC and Joe Philbin interim OL coach.

He will have to make a decision on whether to keep Turner and Philbin in those positions or to move them back to their previous jobs and bring in someone from the outside.

The one caveat here could be Patrick Graham, who Pierce said he would like to have back, but added “we’ll see what happens this offseason” due to the fact that Graham could potentially receive outside interest.

But that decision would be out of his hands. If it’s up to Pierce, he is staying along with his entire current staff and running it back next year.

Antonio Pierce finally comments on his job status as Raiders head coach

For the first time in a while, Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce spoke on whether he thinks he keep his job.

Over the past week, Antonio Pierce has been asked several times about his job status and each time his response was “no comment.” This includes immediately following the season-ending loss to the Chargers on Sunday, when he said it twice.

Finishing 4-13 this season, including a ten-game losing streak, many think Pierce could be fired after his first season as the full time coach. But come Monday morning, Pierce was still in place as head coach. This time he actually answered questions posed to him about his job.

“I haven’t been told anything different,” Pierce said about keeping his job.

He added that the noise about his job was all “coming from the outside, not inside the building.”

Pierce went on to speak of the future of the Raiders in such a way that suggested he would continue to be head coach. Making plans for the team’s future and speaking of his and GM Tom Telesco’s decisions this offseason.

It’s no guarantee that he will remain head coach, but he sure sounds like he expects to keep his job.

TV broadcast coverage map for Raiders vs. Chargers Week 18

With a victory, the Raiders can beat an AFC West opponent for the first time this season and win their third straight game overall.

Will the Raiders win a single game against an AFC West opponent this season? We’ll know after Las Vegas battles against the Chargers on Sunday in Los Angeles.

The Raiders are 0-5 in the division thus far. They can also win their third straight game to close the campaign. The Chargers are already in the playoffs but could rest their players depending on NFL results from Saturday, providing a potentially easier path to victory for Las Vegas.

The game will kick off at 1:25 p.m. PST and be broadcast on CBS. According to 506sports.com, most NFL fans will see Kansas City at Denver during that time slot. Los Angeles and Las Vegas are the only two NFL cities that will see the Raiders vs. Chargers.

With the uncertainty surrounding the Chargers strategy, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen in this game. Coach Antonio Pierce will certainly want to build momentum for next season with a third win in a row, but it’s unclear whether Pierce will return next season so it may be a moot point.

Regardless, the Raiders will want to see strong performances from their young players. That includes their four rookie starters (tight end Brock Bowers, guard Jackson Powers-Johnson, offensive tackle DJ Glaze, and cornerback Decamerion Richardson).

Young defenders like defensive tackle Jonah Laulu, defensive end Tyree Wilson, DE K’lavon Chaisson, and safety Thomas Harper have also been coming on strong lately. And of course, quarterback Aidan O’Connell must prove himself with every opportunity as Las Vegas prepares to search for more quarterbacks — or a franchise quarterback — in the offseason.