The Raiders listened to the fans who wanted Antonio Pierce to be hired as the team’s next permanent head coach. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Antonio Pierce will be an inspirational story to every interim head coach for the foreseeable future.
He and the Las Vegas Raiders are working to finalize a deal for him to assume the full-time head coach title, according to multiple reports Friday.
If you get a chance to coach an NFL team for a part of a season, you have a shot to impress. Pierce certainly did. The Raiders responded to him and a strong half-season as interim coach led Pierce to get the job on a permanent basis.
Pierce went 5-4 as interim coach and had fans chanting for owner Mark Davis to hire him, Raiders players throwing their support behind him and Raiders legends coming back and stumping for him too. He energized the franchise and seemed to change the culture around the organization.
There’s risk in hiring Pierce, but in the end Davis couldn’t ignore all the support for Pierce to be the full-time coach.
Antonio Pierce earns the job
The last time the Raiders were in a similar situation, Rich Bisaccia led the team to the playoffs at the end of the 2021 season as an interim coach. Davis ignored that run and hired Josh McDaniels, who had a horrendous run as Raiders head coach.
When McDaniels was fired, Pierce got a shot to lead the team. He had been a head coach, but that was in high school for Long Beach Poly. He spent four years at Arizona State after that on the Sun Devils’ defensive staff. He had just one full season as a linebackers coach in the NFL before this past season. That’s not the typical resume of an NFL coach.
Pierce did have the respect of the players, however. He spent nine seasons as a linebacker with the New York Giants and Washington Commanders, winning a Super Bowl with the Giants. His approach resonated with the players, who by the end of the season were asking for Pierce to be hired full time.
“It’s obviously who I wanted, and he’s my…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/raiders-close-to-removing-the-interim-tag-will-reportedly-make-antonio-pierce-their-new-permanent-head-coach-203719418.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-01-19 20:37:19
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