Tag: Antonio Pierce

Social media reacts quickly to firing of Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels, GM Dave Ziegler

Social media was quick to react to the late-night firings of Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler.

The Las Vegas Raiders fired their head coach and general manager in the most Raiders ay possible — with the news breaking just after Halloween.

Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler, both hired in January, 2022, were relieved of their responsibilities by owner Mark Davis, and the team subsequently released a statement on social media.

McDaniels signed a six-year contract, which leaves the Raiders having to pay off the remaining four years. Per ESPN, linebackers coach Antonio Pierce will be interim head coach.

The Raiders were 3-5 this season, and 9-16 in McDaniels’ tenure. McDaniels, the New England Patriots’ longtime offensive coordinator, previously served as the Denver Broncos’ head coach in 2009 and 2010, putting together an 11-17 record before he was fired there.

Despite the late-night nature of the firings, social media was quick to respond, because social media never sleeps.

Raiders fire head coach Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler in late-night news dump

The Las Vegas Raiders fired head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler after one-and-a-half unsuccessful seasons.

The Las Vegas Raiders fired their head coach and general manager in the most Raiders ay possible — with the news breaking just after Halloween.

Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler, both hired in January, 2022, were relieved of their responsibilities by owner Mark Davis, and the team subsequently released a statement on social media.

McDaniels signed a six-year contract, which leaves the Raiders having to pay off the remaining four years. Per ESPN, linebackers coach Antonio Pierce will be interim head coach.

The Raiders were 3-5 this season, and 9-16 in McDaniels’ tenure. McDaniels, the New England Patriots’ longtime offensive coordinator, previously served as the Denver Broncos’ head coach in 2009 and 2010, putting together an 11-17 record before he was fired there.

Raiders LB coach was ‘shocked’ at how much bigger Divine Deablo is this year

Divine Deablo ‘shocked’ his LB coach with how big he was ‘He doesn’t look like a safety playing linebacker. He now looks like a linebacker.’

When the Raiders selected Divine Deablo in the third round of the 2021 draft, they knew he was to be a project. The former college safety was looked at as a linebacker from day one. But that transition doesn’t happen overnight. For some, it may never happen.

With the NFL transitioning away from traditional linebackers to ones who can drop back into coverage the majority of the time, having DB instincts and range is important. But it is still the linebacker position, which means they must have the size. to handle it.

“I think where the game is today, I think it’s a lot of passing,” Deablo said last week. “I think it helped benefit me in that scenario. As far as running game, we do have to put on a little weight to take on these linemen.”

Entering his third season, it’s clear Deablo is right where he needs to be in that regard. So much so, in fact, that his physical growth caught his linebacker coach by surprise.

“He got bigger. When he walked in I was shocked to see the weight and mass he had put on,” Antonio Pierce said of Deablo.

That shock Pierce had was when Deablo showed up for OTA’s this spring. Since that time, Deablo has trimmed a bit so that he can keep the speed that he needs to cover tight ends.

“He understands his game is speed and he’s gotten better at playing linebacker and coming downhill,” Pierce continued. “What I’ve seen is a guy who’s more comfortable playing the linebacker position. He doesn’t look like a safety playing linebacker. He now looks like a linebacker. And he’ll continue to grow. I think each and every year in the league he’ll get better. He’ll see the game as a linebacker, and that will just make him a better football player.”

The Raiders will be relying heavily on Deablo as the longest tenured linebacker in this corps and providing the bulk of the coverage which will allow newly added Robert Spillane to focus more on his middle linebacker duties.

D.J. Davidson was inspired by retired Giants great Antonio Pierce

D.J. Davidson says he found a constant source of inspiration in retired New York Giants great Antonio Pierce, who was his DC at ASU.

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The New York Giants selected Arizona State defensive tackle D.J. Davidson with the fourth pick in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft. He is basically an early-down run stopper the Giants will slide into the defensive line rotation.

“D.J. Davidson, see him more as a nose, out of Arizona State, be a good depth player that has some upside,” Giants general manager Joe Schoen told the media on Saturday. “We are excited about working with him inside, again, trying to add some depth up front there.”

Davidson was a player the Giants targeted. He had played under former Giant captain Antonio Pierce during Pierce’s time as defensive coordinator out in Tempe.

“He never really talked to me about the Giants or anything like that. I know he played with the Giants when he was at D.C. at Arizona State, he always put up his film,” Davidson told the media on Saturday. “Always saw Twitter clips of him being a monster on the field, coming downhill, making tackles for loss, covering in coverage, all those types of things.

“That’s what really inspired me as a player, seeing my defensive coordinator in that position. And, I mean, it’s the Giants. Knowing he played there and seeing that, I want to live up to what he lived up to and be on that level with him.”

Davidson said his pre-draft dealings with the Giants were all positive and got a great vibe from the atmosphere and deceive line coaches Andre Patterson and Bryan Cox.

“I went on the 30 visit like towards the end of the 30-visit deadline. So I went on a 30 visit and talked with Coach Patterson, talked with everybody, the GMs, player personnel, the whole thing when they brought me in there, and had constant phone calls. I had Zoom calls with Coach Patterson and Coach Cox. And they’re amazing. The building is amazing, the coaches are amazing. I love the Giants,” he said.

Davison said he thought he impressed the Giants simply by being himself with them. The Giants are looking for players who fit their culture and Davidson is their type of kid.

“I believe what made the positive impression is who I am as a person. I went back to my roots. I stayed true to myself. I stayed true and kept it real with the owners, with Coach Patterson, with all of them and what my goals are, just to be the best teammate, to be the best player that I can be, have them challenge me every day, my good days and bad days, and continue to respond in a positive way,” Davidson added.

“I said those things to them, and I think that’s the main thing is just me as a person, they know the character that I am and just keeping the main thing the main thing, coming in, be the best team player, and just really put myself in the best ability and the best situation in their defensive scheme and what they have for this next season coming up.”

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Raiders hiring ex-Giant Antonio Pierce as linebackers coach

The Las Vegas Raiders are hiring ex-New York Giants LB Antonio Pierce to their defensive staff which also includes Patrick Graham.

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Former New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce has officially made his return to the NFL.

On Monday, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported that Pierce, who recently resigned at Arizona State amid an ongoing NCAA investigation, reached an agreement to become the Las Vegas Raiders’ linebackers coach.

Pierce spent five of his nine NFL seasons playing for the Giants from 2005 through 2009. He was a defensive captain in 2007 when the team upset the then-undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

Not long after his retirement in 2010, Pierce broke into coaching. His first job came as head coach of Long Beach Polytechnic High School (2014-2017). In 2018, long-time NFL coach Herm Edwards hired Pierce to coach linebackers at ASU.

In 2020, Pierce was promoted to associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator in addition to his role as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator. He dropped his linebacker coaching duties this past season and took on the defensive coordinator role alone.

The 43-year-old Pierce official resigned from ASU earlier this month.

Now with Las Vegas, Pierce joins former Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.

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Arizona State promotes ex-Giant Antonio Pierce to sole defensive coordinator

Arizona State University has promoted retired New York Giants LB Antonio Pierce to sole defensive coordinator.

Arizona State has promoted former New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce to sole defensive coordinator.

Pierce served as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach alongside Marvin Lewis last season, but will now take over as the full-time coordinator. Despite the shuffling, Lewis will remain on staff as special assistant to head coach Herm Edwards.

“I am looking forward to this new challenge and opportunity to be the defensive coordinator at Arizona State,” Pierce said in a statement, via ESPN. “I have learned so much from Coach Lewis and Coach Edwards during my time here and can’t wait to apply that knowledge in this new role. We are excited about the group that we have returning and can’t wait to continue to bring in talented Sun Devils.”

Pierce played nine seasons in the NFL, first with the Washington Redskins (2001-04) before signing with the Giants as a free agent in 2005. He was a Pro Bowler in 2006 and an integral piece of the Giants’ Super Bowl XLII championship team.

In 124 career games, Pierce recorded 691 tackles, nine sacks, 43 passes defensed and seven interceptions.

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Former Giants captain Antonio Pierce promoted to co-DC at Arizona State

Former New York Giants captain Antonio Pierce has been promoted to co-defensive coordinator at Arizona State University.

Former New York Giants defensive captain Antonio Pierce has been promoted to co-defensive coordinator at Arizona State University. He had been serving as the Sun Devils’ linebackers coach for the past two seasons.

Pierce will share the coordinator duties with Marvin Lewis, the long-time head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals and will retain his other responsibilities as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.

“Antonio Pierce has established himself as one of the elite recruiters in the nation and is one of the brightest up-and-coming coaches around,” ASU head coach Herm Edwards (yes, that Herm Edwards) said. “His impact with the linebackers and with the Sun Devil program in just two seasons has been tangible and he has been a pivotal part in our defensive success since his arrival in Tempe.”

Pierce played nine seasons in the NFL, first with the Washington Redskins (2001-04) before signing with the Giants as a free agent in 2005. He was a Pro Bowler in 2006 and an integral piece of the Giants’ Super Bowl XLII championship team.

In other coaching news, former Giants defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan has been named the new linebackers coach at Air Force.

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Antonio Piece drawing NFL coaching interest, ex-Giants want team to hire him

Retired LB Antonio Pierce is drawing some NFL coaching interest and his former New York Giants teammates want the team to hire him.

Don’t look now, but retired New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, who is currently serving as the linebackers coach at Arizona State after a stint as the Long Beach Poly (High School) head coach, is beginning to draw NFL coaching interest.

NFL Network insider and former Giants beat writer, Mike Garafolo, was the first to report the news.

Immediately upon that report hitting social media, several of Pierce’s former teammates, including Hall of Famers Michael Strahan, were quick express support for Pierce while openly pounding the drum for Big Blue to hire him.

Pierce signed with the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent out of Arizona in 2001, and went on to play in nine years in the NFL, including five season with the Giants, where he won a Super Bowl championship in 2007. He also went to the Pro Bowl in 2006.

Well-respected among his teammates, Pierce was voted a team captain during his time in blue and was repeatedly lauded as a genuine old school leader. His smarts were never in question and he actually does make sense for the Giants as a potential assistant.

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