The Las Vegas Raiders are rebooting again.
The team on Tuesday fired Antonio Pierce after a 4-13 season, the head coach’s first full campaign in the top job. Pierce went 5-4 as the team’s interim coach to close out 2023.
Davis will now be hiring his sixth different full-time coach since taking over the franchise in 2011.
‘We appreciate Antonio’s leadership, first as an interim head coach and this past season as the head coach,’ the Raiders said in a statement announcing Pierce’s firing.
‘Antonio grew up a Raiders fan and his Silver and Black roots run deep. We are grateful for his ability to reignite what it means to be a Raider throughout the entire organization. We wish nothing but the best for Antonio and his family in the future.’
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Pierce met with the media on Monday and said he hadn’t been given any reason to believe he wouldn’t be back next season. He added that all speculation regarding his job status was coming from ‘outside the building’ and said he did not envision making any changes to his coaching staff for 2025.
Owner Mark Davis had seemingly put Pierce on notice late in the year with his December remarks that he was dissatisfied with the Raiders’ results this year.
“I’m very disappointed, obviously. I want to see progress,” Davis said at the league meeting, according to The Athletic. “There’s no excuses. We have injuries and all of those things, but your team has to figure out how to get around those issues. The bottom line … is it comes down to me. And, if there’s going to be a finger pointed, it should be at me because, again, I’m the one who’s hiring the people who make the decisions on the field.’
Despite a 2-2 start, the Raiders’ season unraveled quickly thereafter. Three-time All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams requested a trade prior to Week 5, and Las Vegas dealt him to the New York Jets on Oct. 15 for a conditional 2025 third-round draft pick. Pierce also ridiculed his team’s effort in a September loss to the Carolina Panthers, saying certain players made ‘business decisions’ in the game. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello and offensive line coach James Cregg were all fired after Week 9, with the team at the midpoint of what would become a 10-game losing streak.
Las Vegas won two of its final three games, but the late push wasn’t enough to salvage Pierce’s job.
A former Pro Bowl linebacker who played nine seasons in the NFL, Pierce joined the Raiders in 2022 as linebackers coach on Josh McDaniels’ staff. When the Raiders fired McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler midway through last season, Pierce took over as the interim coach and quickly made his mark, winning the support of Adams and Pro Bowl defensive end Maxx Crosby for the full-time role.
The change marks one of the first opportunities for new part-owner Tom Brady to leave his imprint on the organization. Davis said in December he wants the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback to have a ‘huge voice’ in football operations. Davis also said he wants Brady’s insights in identifying the franchise’s next major investment at quarterback after the team rotated through Gardner Minshew, Aidan O’Connell and midseason pickup Desmond Ridder this season.