Raiders' Adams Sounds Off on Differences Between Pierce, McDaniels

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams recently opened up about the different approaches between Antonio Pierce and Josh McDaniels and why they had different effects.

Jan 7, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce is on the sideline during a game against the Denver Broncos during the first quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports / Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

The Las Vegas Raiders, despite just missing out on the 2023-24 postseason, proved that, frankly, they were better off without their former head coach Josh McDaniels when they finished 5-4 under Antonio Pierce last year.

There was clearly a different energy in the locker room when Pierce took over, and Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams believes there was a reason for that.

"I think the big thing, in a nutshell," Adams said when he joined "All Facts No Brakes with Keyshawn Johnson" this past week, "[is] AP [Pierce] is the dude that's like, 'What do we got to do to win? I don't have an agenda exactly how I want to win the game, I don't want to out-coach him and come in and do this exactly to win the game this type of way. Let me evaluate what we have, the type of players we have, the type of mental they have.'

"Because Josh [McDaniels] and I talked, and this was before -- I think this is actually my first year as a Raider. I talked to him, and I went in there and sat in there with him, and it was after a game that I think I had like two catches or something. So, he was thinking I was going in there to start crying and complaining about not getting the pill. And the first thing he said when I walked in his office: 'I know, I know.' And I said, no, I didn't come in here to complain about nothing; I came in here to tell you maybe you and I both need to kind of adjust our expectations. Not our standard, because we got a standard, but we're both used to winning and we got to keep it that way, but we got to adjust our expectation. Everybody that's in that team meeting room when you're looking in there, those are not all people that you picked to be in this building. So, everybody that was in, y'all had Harvard grads and dudes that went to this school and that school ... you don't have them dudes up in the Raiders team meeting room. So, you got to adjust your expectation. That way, you don't necessarily be so miserable all the time and then letting that carry over to how your players feel.

"Because if that's the energy you bring as a head coach -- that's the thing AP talks about, is checking your ego at the door, coming in that building with a smile on your face, regardless, because we're blessed to play the game. Which is a fact."

Adams feels that Pierce's coaching style is unique due to his experience as a player in the league.

"[H]aving played the game, I think AP got a little bit of a different approach and a different mindset that players like me, players like Maxx [Crosby] and even all the way down to the practice squad, they can relate to that," Adams said.

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