Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce on the Challenges of his First Training Camp as HC

Las Vegas Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce has begun his first training camp as a head coach in the National Football League. It has not been without a few challenges.

Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Antonio Pierce / Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated

The Las Vegas Raiders have kicked off training camp.

Coach Antonio Pierce played nine seasons in the National Football League, but this is his first training camp as a head coach in the NFL. Pierce served as the team’s leader for the final nine games of last season, giving him on-the-job training that will help him this upcoming season, but he did not get to experience a training camp as head coach.

Pierce has spent many seasons in and around the NFL and various levels of football. However, this offseason has undoubtedly been different.

Training camp is even more critical than usual as the Raiders enter a pivotal season with many new coaches and players. There is also one fewer preseason game than in years past, and the Raiders will not hold joint practices with other teams, meaning Pierce and the Raiders must be even more efficient with their time at training camp. As Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and the Raiders install a new offense and try to improve even more on defense, every detail matters for Pierce.

While his time as an NFL player gave Pierce plenty of experience with training camps, it did not fully prepare him for training camp as a head coach, as the responsibilities are entirely different.

Pierce said while there have been challenges, they have been alleviated by the fact that he has two well-respected head coaches in his corner.

“I think just because you’re not a head coach, haven’t been a head coach, you don’t understand how to schedule a practice," Pierce said at training camp on Tuesday. "You’ve been in the league, you watch, you’ve been a part of it, you’ve played.

“At the end of the day, training camp to the offseason is probably more difficult because you don’t have your players there. You can have all these drills, have all these things to do, and if only half your team shows up, you can’t do it. We were fortunate everyone showed up. So, it was pretty easy to do training camp. Like I said, when you’ve got Marvin Lewis in the building and Tom Coughlin on speed dial, it’s pretty easy to do training camp.”

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