Raiders' Antonio Pierce Talks Training Camp Goals

Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce discussed what he wanted his team to improve on at training camp as the season inches closer.

Nov 19, 2023; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce stands on the field during the first half against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports / Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

The Las Vegas Raiders are just a month away from taking the field against the Los Angeles Chargers in their first game, with Coach Antonio Pierce leading the way in a full-time role. 

Pierce took over as the interim head coach midway through the 2023 season, showing he was capable of leading the franchise after a significant turnaround under his leadership. 

Before the Raiders can play a regular season game, they need to tune up their squad throughout training camp. NFL teams make incremental gains, and Pierce is looking for steady progress before the team can take on any major regular season goals. 

Pierce joined NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Daniel Jeremiah on "Inside Training Camp" to discuss what he wants to see from his team during training camp. 

“One, I want to get our team closer together, to bond and the chemistry -- I wanted to get that out, done,” Pierce said. “Done deal. Every night, these guys have been together in meeting rooms, classrooms, having dinner together, doing things outside of the building, outside of our office hours and work hours, mission accomplished.”

Pierce mentioned something he wanted to instill in his team, which every coach wants to instill in their teams. 

“I wanted to build some toughness,” he said. “So, we had some padded days, we had some live days, we had a live scrimmage, we had starters, and everybody was live. I told Maxx Crosby, ‘Except for the quarterback,’ but he didn’t listen. But no, man, we really got after it, and we wanted to build it with our O-Line and D-Line. We wanted to get after those groups, a few position groups, and they’ve done an outstanding job. 

Pierce wants his youth to be ready, too.

“We wanted to see if these young players we drafted last year have started to come along, and we’ve seen some players in year two make strides, and some rookies kind of pop out,” Pierce said.

There is a lot of excitement surrounding the Raiders because of Pierce’s impact, and training camp is just the start of a season that could be special if things go right for the Silver and Black.

The full interview with Pierce can be found here.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.