Antonio Pierce Hasn't Been 'Told Anything Different' About Raiders Future
Antonio Pierce officially finished his first year as the Las Vegas Raiders' head coach, and it sounds like he has a good chance of remaining in this position, at least from what he's heard.
There's been speculation the Raiders could fire Pierce after the team went 4–13 this season, but the coach is calling this purely outside rumors.
"I haven't been told anything different," Pierce said. "It's only coming from the outside. It's not inside the building. To me there's nothing to clean up until I hear from inside the building."
However, Pierce acknowledged there were aspects of this season he wish could've been different, including starting with Aidan O'Connell at quarterback instead of Gardner Minshew, who later suffered a broken collarbone.
"We've got to get better players," Pierce said. "We've got to coach better. You've got to do a lot of things better when you only win four games."
Multiple players expressed their gratitude for Pierce after the season finale on Sunday, which resulted in a 34–20 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, including tight end Brock Bowers.
"I really liked AP as a coach," Bowers said. "I know decisions are made and it's up to certain people and not us, so I don't have any control over that. But I really liked playing for him and I thought he was a great coach."
Pierce hasn't met with Raiders owner Mark Davis and general manager Tom Telesco yet, at least at the time he gave these comments on Monday. We'll see what Pierce's future holds.