Antonio Pierce Spending More Time with Offensive Line

A well-known defensive guy, Interim Coach Antonio Pierce is spending more time with the Las Vegas Raiders' offensive line.

Interim Coach Antonio Pierce played 124 games in the National Football League on the defensive side of the ball. Pierce is also the Raiders' former linebackers coach, so he has invaluable knowledge of the game of football, especially defense. 

Thus, his time as a coach for the Raiders has mainly focused on defense. However, since his promotion the week Las Vegas played the New York Giants, Pierce has begun spending more time on the other side of the ball.

Pierce has joined in on meetings and has been more connected to the offense than ever before. Las Vegas' offensive linemen love having Pierce in on their meetings and he enjoys it as well. 

“Oh, they do? They like me in a room? I couldn’t tell," Pierce said. "No, no, no, I like being in there. First of all, just being in an O-line room is different. I don't think I've ever spent this much time in my life in an offensive line room.

"It's different characters, different personalities, different coaching styles. "It's different. It's different. That's a different group. But it's fun, man.

"I knew right away when the transition happened that that was the group I needed to spend the most time with to change their identity, their mindset, to let them know that I appreciate what they're doing, and let the coach know I appreciate what he's doing, as well. And that this is the style of play we're going to play going forward, and I know big guys like to go forward first.

"That's our mindset. Obviously, you've seen we're going to run the ball. We'll do other things, and when we got an opportunity to throw it, we’ll throw it. But that's the mentality of most offensive linemen, right? They want to hit somebody in the mouth first. We want to be the guy to swing first.” 

Las Vegas sorely needed a change on the offensive side of the ball this season. While Pierce will always be a defensive-minded coach, spending more time with the offensive players will only help the Raiders build cohesion moving forward. 

The Silver and Black will return home to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to take on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, December 10, at 4:05 p.m. EST/1:05 p.m. PST.

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