As The Raiders Turn: NFL Franchise Fires Head Coach Antonio Pierce; With Tom Brady On Board As Minority Owner, Look For Major Changes
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — It turned out Antonio Pierce was a terrific interim coach in 2023.
But as the Las Vegas Raiders permanent head coach, Pierce, the former NFL linebacker who took over for a fired Josh McDaniels during the 2023 season, failed in 2024 to produce a winner.
It cost the fiery Pierce his job.
After winning five of nine games in relief of McDaniels in 2023, Pierce struggled to field a consistent, error-free football team in 2024 as the Raiders won only four of 17 games during this season.
The Raiders announced their fired Pierce in a social media post Tuesday.
It was a major disappointment for the Raiders to see the team’s inspired football performance under Pierce in 2023 not continue in 2024.
After splitting the first four games this season, the Raiders lost ten straight games over more than two and a half months.
The Raiders then defeated bad teams like Jacksonville and New Orleans before looking hapless Sunday against a playoff-bound Chargers team during the final three games of the season.
A fan of the Raiders growing up in Southern California, Pierce talked about the team returning to its physical roots of the franchise’s glory years.
But in the end, the four-win season of 2024 buried him.
There’s a new dynamic in ownership of the Raiders.
Davis still controls the franchise.
But with former NFL star Tom Brady a partial Raiders team owner, expect changes in the way the franchise conducts its football business.
After moving to Las Vegas in 2020, the Raiders have had Jon Gruden, Rich Bisaccia (interim), Josh McDaniels and Pierce (interim, then permanent) as head coaches.
Typically, teams will announce the firing of a coach on the Monday after the season ends. But it was unusual for the Raiders to have Pierce hold his usual Monday media presser before the team fired him a day later.
