Las Vegas Raiders team owner Mark Davis has done his best to bring the franchise back to relevancy, and to do that he’s swung for the fences with his recent head coaching hires.
First was Jon Gruden who signed a massive 10-year deal with the Raiders before he resigned due to damning emails that were leaked. Next came Josh McDaniels who was brought in to help recreate the success of the New England Patriots, though he didn’t even last two seasons in Las Vegas.
Antonio Pierce was elevated to interim head coach after McDaniels was fired and instantly got the best of the roster. Under Piece, Las Vegas vastly improved on defense and nearly made the postseason.
Davis took notice of the job Pierce did and officially named him the team’s next head coach. Once the news broke, players like Maxx Crosby and Marcus Epps celebrated the news via their personal X accounts:
THE RAIDER WAY 2024🦅💎 pic.twitter.com/P3BEJkNDgr
— 🦅MaddMaxx🦅 (@CrosbyMaxx) January 19, 2024
Great day for Raider Nation, time to work! https://t.co/BgsiCrBu2D
— Marcus Epps (@MEpps_6) January 19, 2024
Las Vegas offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor and Pierce’s former teammate Justin Tuck also chimed in to celebrate Pierce’s hire:
Congrats to my dude @AntonioPierce and the @Raiders They made a good choice !!!
— Justin Tuck (@JustinTuck) January 19, 2024
Can’t think of anyone more deserving. The Raider way is the only way that needs to be in Vegas☠️ https://t.co/o6OTK34p2a
— Jermaine Eluemunor (@TheMainShow_) January 19, 2024
Pierce clearly has the respect of the players and his peers and earned the right to be the Raiders’ head coach. As a former player, Pierce understands how to connect with the locker room, and he also showed an ability to teach and implement during his interim stint.
It’s an exciting time for the franchise as Pierce will now be tasked with leading the team and building on the momentum he created in the second half of the 2023 season. There’s a lot of work left to do, but the Silver and Black appear to finally be heading in the right direction.
Raiders players told Michael Irvin that Antonio Pierce is their coach
The Raiders locker room was behind the team hiring Pierce as they took almost every opportunity to vouch for the newly minted head coach. Michael Irvin recently visited Las Vegas to talk to some of the players, and he revealed that many of them were calling Pierce their coach, a ringing endorsement that ultimately culminated in him landing the job.
