The Final Nine Games of Last Season Proved Valuable for Coach Antonio Pierce

Las Vegas Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce took over during a whirlwind of events for the organization last season. The experience has helped prepare him for what is to come.

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

Halfway through last season, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis made a difficult decision.

After watching the lifeless performance of the Raiders on Monday Night Football against the Detroit Lions, Davis decided to pull the plug on the Josh McDaniels era after only a season and a half. In a league where continuity is critical and for a team lacking continuity at the head coaching position over the last few seasons, the decision to move on from McDaniels was far from easy for Davis. However, it was undoubtedly the right decision to make.  

Davis has built a strong connection with the Raiders players, especially the team’s stars. He recognized one of the most significant issues with McDaniels was the lack of connection between him and the players in the locker room. Because of this, Davis made the wise decision of promoting a former Super Bowl-winning linebacker and the team’s current Linebackers Coach, Antonio Pierce, to the interim head coaching position. Coach Pierce would lead the team to a 5-4 record over the final nine games of last season and was close to finishing with a 6-3 or possibly even a 7-2 record over the final nine games.

After stars like Maxx Crosby and Davante Adams were vocal about the Raiders keeping Pierce as the head coach, Davis removed the interim tag from Coach Pierce’s title. Coach Pierce now enters his first entire season as the team’s head coach but said the final nine games of last season were a crash course for him and a valuable learning experience. 

“Huge. I know it’s my first [time] head coaching a training camp, but when you did it nine weeks of the season in the middle of all hell breaking loose, this is a lot easier, to be honest," Pierce said on Tuesday. "A lot of the things that I learned through those nine weeks of the season really helped prepare me for what’s going on today.

“Obviously, when I brought in Marvin Lewis, that was really critical for me. There were a lot of things I was able to bounce off of him, along with Tom Telesco, who has been in the NFL for 30 years, to make sure I give us the best opportunity to have the best training camp possible. To put us in the position to start fast and to set the tone and identity of what we want this Raiders team to look like.”

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