New Raiders Interim Head Coach Antonio Pierce On First Team Meeting: ‘I Had Their Eyes’
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
It’s actually rather common in the business world.
Someone gets hired to manage the company, but is not a good fit.
The boss’ style doesn’t fit with the culture of the company.
He or she might be good at the Xs and Os of the industry.
But the chemistry just feels off.
Welcome to Raiders owner Mark Davis’ hiring of head coach Josh McDaniels and McDaniels’ pal, Dave Ziegler as general manager, in 2022.
I always study body language and never thought McDaniels’ connected with Raiders players to inspire them the way former interim coach Rich Bisaccia did in 2021 when Bisaccia guided the Raiders to the playoffs.
McDaniels struck out in his Denver Broncos coaching job after he was named as the top guy in 2009. In his second season, McDaniels was fired after winning only three of the Broncos’ first 12 games in 2010.
McDaniels showed little emotion at his pressers during his Las Vegas tenure, which lasted a season and a half and produced a combined record of nine wins and 16 losses. Between the Broncos and Raiders, McDaniels compiled a record of 20 wins and 33 losses.
With Davis naming Antonio Pierce, 45, as interim head coach, the Raiders now have eight head coaches since 2011 when former Raiders owner Al Davis died and son Mark assumed ownership.
The Raiders have never returned to the team’s past sustained success, which includes three Super Bowl championships.
Pierce is a fiery former NFL linebacker from Compton, California who had established solid relationships with the players as the Raiders linebackers coach. He played four seasons with Washington and then five years with the New York Giants, finishing his career in 2009 at age 31.
A few minutes before 1 PM, Pierce and interim general manager Champ Kelly, 43, walked into a packed media room.
Pierce set the tone, discussing the need for “tough, passionate energy . . . and having that love for the game.”
The interim coach who played as a linebacker on a Super Bowl-winning New York Giants team said the Raiders are “tired of losing. It’s not a good feeling. We’re about competition playing with an edge and a swag.”
He added about the message at the team meeting, “Embrace the fact you’re a Raider.” He knows it’s a “production-based business.”
LVSportsBiz.com asked Pierce if his intense, emotional and demonstrative style and personality is the fit the Raiders need?
“I had their eyes,” Pierce told the packed media room.
He explained that he was a former NFL player and can relate to their jobs.
“I felt the same pain they felt,” Pierce explained.
Will Pierce pull a Bisaccia and lead the Raiders to the playoffs?
The Pierce era starts Sunday when the Raiders host the New York Giants.
