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Antonio Pierce’s tenure as the full-time head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders is reportedly over after just one season.
Las Vegas fired Pierce on Tuesday following his meeting with team owner Mark Davis, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport:
There was plenty of optimism surrounding Pierce when he went 5-4 as the interim coach to finish the 2023 season after the Raiders fired Josh McDaniels. A number of players, including Maxx Crosby and Davante Adams, openly campaigned for Las Vegas to give him the full-time job for 2024.
The front office did just that, but the 2024 campaign went anything but according to plan.
Las Vegas went 4-13 during a season that saw it trade Adams to the New York Jets. Quarterback Gardner Minshew also failed to replicate the magic he found while going 7-6 as a starter for the Indianapolis Colts last season and went 2-7 as a starter before he was lost for the year to a broken collarbone.
In all, Minshew had nine touchdown passes to 10 interceptions before the injury.
The defense was also anything but inspiring and finished tied for 25th in the NFL in points allowed per game (25.5), which was particularly notable since Pierce played linebacker during his NFL career from 2001 to 2009.
The end result was a frustrating season for a Raiders team that is now looking up at the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos in the AFC West. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are a known commodity, so that comes as no surprise, but Las Vegas surely doesn’t want to also be playing catch up with the Chargers and Broncos.
Los Angeles’ future looks bright under head coach Jim Harbaugh, while rookie quarterback Bo Nix seems to be the long-term franchise signal-caller in Denver.
With the AFC West looking like it will be strong for years to come, the Raiders decided they needed to change their reality by making a change at head coach.
That means Pierce is out after just one year in the full-time role.
