The Raiders fired Antonio Pierce on Tuesday after finishing the 2024 season in last place in the AFC West.
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 7, 2025
Pierce was initially named the interim head coach for the Raiders after the team fired Josh McDaniels during the 2023 season. He coached nine games to end the season and went 5-4. Even though the record was barely over .500, it felt like Pierce had won the locker room, and after Las Vegas conducted a coaching search, the franchise hired Pierce as the head coach, allowing him to drop the interim title.
Unfortunately, that strong finish to the 2023 season didn’t carry over to 2024. Pierce led the Raiders to a 4-13 record, finishing well behind the Chiefs, Chargers and Broncos in a loaded AFC West.
Las Vegas will likely have a new quarterback next year, and it will definitely have a new head coach. Here’s why the franchise decided to move on from Pierce.
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Why did the Raiders fire Antonio Pierce?
Pierce wasn’t able to turn around the fortunes of the Raiders in 2024. The front office didn’t help him much. The signing of Gardner Minshew was a bust. Las Vegas also didn’t adequately address the running back position, then traded Davante Adams to the Jets midway through the year.
The Raiders’ struggles aren’t all on Pierce, but when moves need to be made to try to turn around a team, the head coach is usually one of the first to go. Along with not being able to win games early in the season, Pierce led Las Vegas to games it didn’t need to win. For a brief period of time, the Raiders held the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but wins in Week 16 and 17 hurt the overall cause.
Pierce didn’t help himself with a curt answer to questions about the wins hurting Vegas’s draft position, simply saying, “Talk to [GM] Tom Telesco.”
Pierce added that the Raiders weren’t playing for the draft and the players were playing for their livelihoods. While that is valid, the overall situation further soured Pierce’s standing within the organization. The Raiders not only gave up the first overall pick, but they fell out of the top five entirely.
Simply put, the Raiders struggled to win games despite slight improvements on offense and defense. A lack of cohesion in the locker room and with the front office further strained Pierce’s prospects in Vegas.
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Who will replace Antonio Pierce in Las Vegas?
This coaching cycle will have some interesting candidates. Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn, Mike Vrabel, Kliff Kingsbury, Robert Saleh and Brian Flores are among the top candidates this year.
Johnson is going to be the apple of every team’s eye this cycle. The Lions offensive coordinator not only helped Jared Goff look like an MVP candidate but also showed incredible creativity with his offense, including coming up with a fake fumble that resulted in a touchdown.
Detroit was dangerous on both sides of the ball. Despite rampant injuries across all three levels of the defense, coordinator Aaron Glenn kept them playing at a relatively high level. Former head coaches Vrabel, Flores, Saleh, Kingsbury and even Jon Gruden are all reportedly in the mix for head coach openings, but it would be one of the more shocking things in sports history if Gruden got brought back to Las Vegas.
MORE: 6 best Raiders coaching candidates, from Brian Flores to Mike Vrabel
Antonio Pierce coaching record
| Year | Record |
| 2023 | 5-4 |
| 2024 | 4-13 |
Pierce helped the Raiders finish the 2023 season with an overall 8-9 record. Las Vegas was 3-5 when it fired McDaniels. That momentum was not carried over into 2024, as the Raiders continued to struggle and very clearly lacked a starting caliber quarterback under center, not to mention other problems on offense.
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