Antonio Pierce Aug 26, 2022; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders linebackers coach Antonio Pierce watches from the sidelines against the New England Patriots at Allegiant Stadium. The Raiders defeated the Patriots 23-6. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
ArticlesFeaturedNFLBy Sam Neumann on

In the early hours of Wednesday morning or the late hours of Tuesday night — depending on what part of the country you’re in — the Las Vegas Raiders made the shocking decision to fire both head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler.

It’s shocking in the sense that McDaniels has four full seasons left on his contract, but not from a performance perspective. McDaniels and Raiders were coming off a 26-14 loss to the Detroit Lions, in which his offense mustered just 157 total yards. That seemed to be the final straw for owner Mark Davis, who will eat the remainder of McDaniels’ contract, so the former New England Patriots offensive coordinator, who has a 20-33 regular season record as a head coach, will no longer be a deterrent to the team.

In firing McDaniels, the Raiders opted to go with a position coach as their interim coach. Linebackers coach Antonio Pierce has been named interim head coach, and will likely finish out the remainder of the regular season with that title.

There’s also a chance that this may be an audition for the head job, as Las Vegas will be paying both McDaniels and Jon Gruden not to coach their team. Not to mention that the Raiders clearly made a mistake in not just hiring Rich Bisaccia, who served as the interim for Gruden.

As for Pierce, he has an extensive coaching career that dates back to 2014. He served as the head coach at Long Beach Poly HS (CA) from 2014-17. In 2018, he was hired by Herm Edwards to be on the coaching staff at Arizona State University, where he served as the linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator from 2018-19. He added the title of associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator in 2020 and officially was elevated to the team’s sole defensive coordinator in 2021 while dropping his linebacker coaching duties.

Pierce resigned from his post prior to the 2022 season as the NCAA investigated ASU for committing several recruiting violations. He reportedly led the charge in pushing the boundaries to commit recruiting violations, allowing recruits to visit during the dead period. It was reported at the time that he was eying NFL coaching opportunities, for what it’s worth.

Two years later, he’s a head coach in the National Football League. 

Those in the NFL world were quick to offer their opinions on Pierce being named Las Vegas’ interim head coach.

Pierce played in the NFL with the Washington Commanders (2001-04) and New York Giants (2005-09). He was named a Pro Bowler in ’06 and won Super Bowl XLII with the team that he’ll coach against come this Sunday.

[Adam Schefter on X]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann