NFL Great Airs Strong Opinion on Raiders, Pierce

The Las Vegas Raiders and Owner Mark Davis are searching for their permanent General Manager and Head Coach, and one of the greatest players in professional football history, J.J. Watt, sounded off on the Pat McAfee show about it.

“They (Raiders) need to hire A.P. (Antonio Pierce), by the way," Watt said. "Why there is even a question, I don’t know why there is anything. A.P. should absolutely be the coach down there. What is there to even contemplate? “

Watt seemed to be echoing what we called for weeks ago. Yes, there is a Rooney Rule, but that wasn’t brought about because of the Raiders and the Davis family.

We have said that Davis should hire Pierce and Champ Kelly, both minorities, but more importantly, the two best for the job to me, and like his father, dare the NFL to penalize the Silver and Black.

The man many consider to be the greatest NFL journalist of all time, my mentor and friend Rich Gosselin, agrees.

Gosselin,:“That is the precedent his (Mark Davis) father (Al) set. …You want (Pierce and Kelly), so go get them, and let the league worry about it.”

Watt expounded, saying: “Who would be mad if A.P. was made the coach? Any fans? No. Any players? No. Media? No. Who would be upset if A.P. was the coach down there?”

I would disagree with Watt there. There would be media who would be angry with them because they were angry with me for even suggesting it.

Watt continued: “Players are fully bought in and vocally supportive, like every step of the way has been checked. I don’t really know what the downside to keeping him would be, especially when you have tried a few different coaches over the last couple of years, and none of them worked out. Let's say this one doesn’t work out. Everyone was on board. I would rather try the guy that everybody is on board with and have that fail then try and do something crazy and have that fail. Then have people say: ‘Why didn’t you just stick with the guy that we all wanted anyways.’”

"Antonio Pierce should absolutely be the Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders..

It's such a perfect fit and he's everything that the Raiders are about" ~ @JJWatt #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/1IKHWNTM4C
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 10, 2024

Watt echoed a sentiment being muttered by so many: “It’s not that hard.”

But evidently, it might be.

“If you are the Raiders, he is the embodiment of what they want to be as an organization," Watt said. "Who they are. It is such a perfect fit. Just the mentality and how the fan base has responded to him.”

But Watt wasn’t done. Frustrated with the Silver and Black ownership, he added: “The Raiders have one of the best fan bases around, and they respond very specifically to very specific types of people. A.P. has embodied everything they want to be about as an organization: the fan base, the Black Hole all that stuff. He seems to have captured all of that. Give that man the keys."

From February 27 to March 4, 2024, the NFL Scouting Combine will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.

The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently hold the No. 13 overall pick.

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