Enough is Enough: Hire Champ Kelly, Antonio Pierce

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—As the sun set on the beautiful Missouri landscape in a game that saw thousands of empty seats with the Kansas Chiefs Kingdom booing their team, the smell of cigar smoke still resonated inside Arrowhead Stadium--Raider smoke.

The Las Vegas Raiders (7-8) are returning to their desert, still in the NFL playoff hunt. The Silver and Black rocked the world champions and AFC arch-rival Chiefs without completing a pass after the first quarter.

Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham and his merry band of misfits on defense relentlessly attacked the best quarterback in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes, all day. The Raiders left this ICONIC stadium with something they have not had in a long time: hope.

Interim General Manager Champ Kelly and Interim Coach Antonio Pierce single-handedly have rescued a franchise wallowing in mediocrity and delivered to the Raider Nation a Christmas gift they could only hoped for.

But that is what owner Mark Davis' interim hope dealers do.

Enough is enough: they deliver.

To his credit, Davis wanted and craved stability when he gave Coach Jon Gruden a 10-year deal.

When Gruden left, he ignored the cries of his team, who rallied for Interim Coach Rich Bisaccia to hire the latest and hottest name in the game -- Josh McDaniels.

That experiment didn't last even a season and a half; now, Davis stands juxtaposed.

One player told me weeks ago: "I love Mark, but if we keep winning and growing, I think he will have a mutiny if he doesn't hire AP."

Davis's two hand-picked men (Gruden, McDaniels) have failed to bring stability to the Raiders and return the Silver and Black to a culture that has created a romance unlike any other with the Raider Nation.

Neither Gruden nor McDaniels could do it. Bisaccia did, and even with a struggling offense, Pierce restored a culture that he had learned about and lived.

Pierce admits he was "Born to be a Raider," Kelly balances the fiery world championship approach unlike anyone.

The team loved Bisaccia, but Kelly and Pierce have gone deeper.

Respected, loved, and honored, Pierce isn't afraid to drop a hammer.

The players love Pierce as a man, but they trust him because he's done it.

Pierce doesn't act like a Raider; Pierce is a Raider. That has a value that Davis will find in no one else. Enough is enough.

Captain Kolton Miller told me in the locker room after the victory over the Chiefs: "Coach Pierce embodies being a Raider. He has a complete love for the game, the ability to connect with players, to feed off of him, he feeds off of us, and our ability to attack goals, and reminds me of what it means to be a Raider. The grit, the grind, and it shows."

Offensive tackle Jermaine Eleumunor quickly praised Pierce: "100 percent," when I mentioned this team is fighting for Pierce to land the head coaching job.

Eleumunor added, "I think he embodies what playing like a Raider is. Even though he isn't the one playing, he is the embodiment of what playing like a Raider is. He's tough, gritty, violent, aggressive. Put your hand in the dirt and just drive off the line of scrimmage and keep throwing punches, keep throwing punches, real gritty and how the Raiders used to play."

Eleumunor elaborated: "He brings that back, and that attitude of everyone hates us, and we don't care. We are going to come to your house and beat you. However, we have to."

Eleumunor has been here for several seasons and has seen a lot.

"I have been here for three years now," Eleumonor said. "Gruden was getting on to that, and I loved him as a coach, but off that field was really obviously what everyone wanted.

"For AP to come in, and this is a tough situation for anyone, for anyone to come into this situation and this team, and to get us to play like we are right now, hats off to him and Champ (Kelly). I think Champ embodies what a Raiders GM should be, and AP embodies what a Raiders coach should be."

Raider Nation: Please vote, share, and Commenr. Should Antonio Pierce be the next permanent Raiders Head Coach?
— Hondo Carpenter (@HondoCarpenter) December 26, 2023

Antonio Pierce declared: "Enough is enough," when it came to losing to the Kansas City Chiefs before the game, and he stopped it.

It is time for Davis to mirror the bravado of his head coach and the incredible leadership of his GM and declare: "Enough is enough," to instability and the parade of teams that wear the Raiders colors but don't play or look like Raiders.

One player told me: "It's Christmas, why doesn't he just name him as the coach?"

I agree. Enough is enough.

There are varying opinions about whether Davis must go through the long process of interviewing candidates outside the Raiders organization.

I do not work for the NFL, but speaking to an NFC and an AFC general manager, I can tell you they disagree with that train of thought.

One told me: "Yes, they can hire AP and Champ without the process," and another said: "They would have to adjust their current contracts, but they could do it."

Whether Davis can or can't isn't the issue. He needs to. Enough is enough.

Davis spent nearly $100 million to move on from his last two coaches. Since when did the Raider Way represent fear of the NFL?

I don't know if Davis fears the NFL, but I would bet he doesn't. It isn't in his blood. Enough is enough.

It reminds me of when a former Raider great and my friend Matt Millen was the general manager of the Detroit Lions.

I am about to tell you a story that has not been publicly reported before, but as I covered the Lions at the time and have a friendship with Millen, I was very aware of it.

Someone inside the Lions organization (not named by Millen's request) decided to hire Coach Steve Mariucci. The rule required Millen to interview minority candidates before hiring, making the hiring public, and Millen tried.

To his credit, Millen didn't lie to any of them. He told them they wouldn't get the job and that the decision was made by someone other than him.

Millen cut his NFL teeth with Raiders owner Al Davis and refused to lie or disrespect a minority or any candidate by being less than truthful.

Millen told me then: “I wasn’t going to go against what my faith means to me and lie to someone. I can’t and wouldn’t do that.”

That was doing it the Raider Way.

Enough was enough; Millen wouldn't change his Raider ways for the Lions. He paid a hefty fine for it, but it was the right thing to do.

Paul Tagliabue, then NFL Commissioner, fined Millen $200,000. Millen paid it because it was the Raider Way.

If Davis can't hire Kelly and Pierce now (and many think he can), it shouldn't matter. Enough is enough.

Davis has seen what these two men can do. The NFL be damned, do it the Raider Way, declare the experiments of the past dead. Enough is enough.

It is a new day. The Raiders have a new city, but they are making it look like the Raiders of old.

Do what Al would have done, Mark. Enough is enough.

Give them the job now, and let the NFL try to fine you. Let them try. Many think you can, and if you can't, what more of a Raider thing to do than declare it? Enough is enough.

Honor your players who will embrace and love you as they did your father. Light up a stogie and let the entire NFL, not only Roger Goodell, know enough is enough.

The Raiders are back to being the Raiders.

No interim, General Manager Champ Kelly and Coach Antonio Pierce are the Raider Way.

Enough is enough.

When have the Raiders ever backed down from giving the NFL a well-deserved sucker punch?

The Rooney Rule wasn't invented because of the Raiders. The Raiders never saw color for the other teams; the rule was brought about as the Raiders always led from the front. If the NFL was honest about the Silver and Black, the Rooney Rule should be called the Raider or the Al Davis Rule.

The people I know believe Davis can do it now. Even if he can't, just let the NFL try to punish you for hiring the two most qualified men for the job, regardless of color, who happen to be minorities.

Enough is enough. The fans and players deserve it, and so does Mark Davis.

Enough is enough; hire Champ Kelly and Antonio Pierce permanently today. It is time for the Raiders to look and act like the Raiders.

The Silver and Black continue the season on New Year's Eve versus the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

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