Antonio Pierce Given Utmost Praise by Former Colleague

FOX Sports' Skip Bayless said Las Vegas Interim Coach Antonio Pierce was "born to be" the Raiders' head coach.

Las Vegas Raiders Interim Coach Antonio Pierce has certainly gained the respect of his players through his first two games in his new role.

One of Pierce's former ESPN colleagues, Skip Bayless, knew long before his tenure in Las Vegas what the former NFL linebacker was capable of as a coach.

Bayless said on "The Skip Bayless Show" on Sunday before the Raiders' 16-12 victory over the New York Jets, that he had been "extremely" impressed with Pierce in his new position, but made it clear he is "biased."

"In my days on 'First Take,' I worked closely with Antonio Pierce," Bayless said. "He was an analyst who came in often during football season on 'First Take.' Knew the game inside and out. 

"In those days, he was coaching high school football; eventually became the head coach at a power house school out here with a great tradition called Long Beach Poly. So, he had some head coaching experience before he went with Coach Herm to Arizona State to be defensive coordinator. Antonio Pierce really knows football.

"There's no showmanship in his game on television. He was a hard-core analyst with deep conviction about what he believed. Antonio Pierce is a natural-born leader. 

"He's also a natural-born Raider, having grown up out here in Compton. Straight out of Compton during the days of the L.A. Raiders. Born to be a head coach of the once Oakland Raiders, the L.A. Raiders, the Las Vegas Raiders. 

"My pet peeve about the hiring of NFL head coaches is that being a coordinator in college or pro football does not qualify you in any way, shape or form to be the general, to be the commanding officer, to be the CEO of a franchise. In no way, shape or form. 

Las Vegas Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce and Skip Bayless both used to work at ESPN / © Gary A. Vasquez | 2023 Nov 12

" ... Just a gut feeling from having been around, worked around, sort of lived around Antonio Pierce, he's a keeper. He's a leader. He's a difference maker who will rise above one side of the ball or the other side. 

"He's a defensive coach who, I think, was born to be a head coach, especially of this franchise."

The Silver and Black will head on the road to South Beach to take on the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST.

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