The Raiders ended the 2023 season with a lot of momentum after Antonio Pierce took over as interim head coach, ultimately earning the job outright thanks to his performance. Unfortunately, 2024 did not go his way, and regardless of how much of that should fall on him, Pierce is ultimately biting the bullet.
According to Ian Rapaport of NFL Network, the Raiders have decided to fire Pierce after just one full season as the team’s head coach:
The #Raiders have fired coach Antonio Pierce following a trying season, despite a flurry at the end, per me, @TomPelissero and @MikeGarafolo.
One and done for Pierce, and Las Vegas is open once again. pic.twitter.com/DKt3AQKrmW
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 7, 2025
Following the Raiders’ season finale, Pierce declined to address his job status, which had been in question for weeks. Ultimately, the Raiders finished a disappointing 4-13 on the season, which included a 10-game losing streak after coming into 2024 with hopes of a playoff run. Instead, this team was snakebitten from the start.
The team could not bring in a new franchise quarterback, instead signing journeyman Gardner Minshew who competed with second-year man Aidan O’Connell for the job. Neither man inspired much confidence or performed much better than average, which doomed the Raiders as it is impossible to win without the right man under center, and Pierce can hardly be faulted for the quarterback situation.
Then there were the injuries that hurt the team immensely, especially on defense, with free agent signing defensive tackle Christian Wilkins seeing his season end after just five games. Star defensive end Maxx Crosby missed five games, while cornerbacks Jakorian Bennett and Nate Hobbs also missed multiple weeks as well.
Despite this, not to mention the Davante Adams drama at the start of the season that ultimately led to him being traded, the Raiders still played very hard and were competitive in a number of games, as Pierce clearly never lost the locker room. But ultimately the Raiders feel that he isn’t the person to lead them back to contention.
Owner Mark Davis is expected to lean on minority owner Tom Brady with this decision, and there have already been rumors on potential names who could replace Pierce, with former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel being chief among them. Whoever the Raiders decide, they must nail this pick to finally get this franchise back toward being one of the NFL’s elite teams.
Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham drawing interest from teams
With Antonio Pierce gone, there will be other questions about other members of his staff being retained. Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham had his unit playing at a respectable level despite the injuries, but his contract is up, and he is already drawing interest from other teams.
Graham is reportedly expected to interview for the defensive coordinator position with the Cincinnati Bengals and is also a candidate for the Jacksonville Jaguars head coaching job. Now with Pierce fired, it would seem likely that Graham will be gone as well.
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