Raiders Make Hiring of Antonio Pierce Official

Moments ago, the Las Vegas Raiders announced they have hired Antonio Pierce as their permanent head coach. It's official ansd, something we previously reported hours ago.

We reported earlier this afternoon that the Las Vegas Raiders had hired Antonio Pierce as their next head coach.

The 45-year-old Pierce, who has been a Raiders fan most of his life since he grew up in Compton, Calif., when the Silver and Black were playing in Los Angeles, took over this season when Davis fired Coach Josh McDaniels on Halloween after a 3-5 start to the season after posting a 6-11 record in 2021-22.

Pierce, who earlier played 10 seasons in the NFL with the Washington Redskins and New York Giants, won his first two games as Interim Coach of the Raiders and posted a 5-4 record the rest of the way as Las Vegas finished the season at 8-9, but missed out on the playoffs.

The fan base and the locker room willed Antonio Pierce into the permanent head coaching job of the Las Vegas Raiders.

© Kyle Terada | 2023 Nov 5

Moments ago, the organization made it official. by sending out the following press release:

Henderson, Nev. -- Antonio Pierce has been named Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. Pierce, a nine-year NFL veteran player, and a former Super Bowl Champion, team captain, and Pro Bowl selection posted a 5-4 record in nine games as Interim Head Coach of the Raiders in 2023.

Pierce was in his second season as linebackers coach with the Raiders prior to being named Interim Head Coach on Oct. 31, 2023. He led the Silver and Black to a 3-1 record against AFC West opponents, highlighted by a franchise-record 63 points in a Week 15 win over the Chargers, and led one of just three NFL teams to score 20-or-more points in each of the last four games of the regular season.

Under his guidance, the Raiders finished the season with the fewest penalties in the NFL (75) and twice completed games without a single penalty flag. After Pierce took the helm in Week 9, the Raiders were tied for 10th in the NFL in takeaways (14), tied for fifth in turnover margin (+6), and tied for third in sacks (30). The defense also allowed a league-low 16.0 points per game.

In his first season with the Silver and Black in 2022, Pierce helped in the development of rookie linebacker Luke Masterson, who finished with 50 tackles (26 solo), ranking third-most in the NFL among undrafted rookies and second-most in a single season in Raiders' history by an undrafted rookie. Pierce also guided Divine Deablo as he averaged 9.25 tackles per game, the 11th-best average in the league.

Before entering the NFL coaching ranks, Pierce spent five seasons at Arizona State, serving as linebackers coach before adding the titles of associate head coach and defensive coordinator. In 2021, Pierce was promoted to defensive coordinator and helped the Sun Devils' defense rank first in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (20.8), first in total yards allowed per game (326.3), tied for first in defensive touchdowns (three), second in interceptions (16) and second in sacks (27).

Prior to ASU, Pierce spent four seasons as the head coach of the Long Beach Poly High School football program. The Long Beach, Calif., native played for two seasons at the University of Arizona after transferring from Mount San Antonio College. He played in 23 games and totaled 152 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and seven sacks for the Wildcats.

Pierce entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Washington in 2001 and played four seasons with the club before signing with the New York Giants as an unrestricted free agent in 2005. Over his nine-year career, Pierce played in 115 games with 85 starts, totaling 732 tackles (462 solos), eight sacks, seven interceptions, eight forced fumbles and 11 fumble recoveries. He was a member of the Giants’ Super Bowl XLII championship team and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2006.

Pierce is grateful for the support of his wife Joceylyn, daughters Jayla and Destini, and sons Antonio, De'Andre, Carmelo, Preston, and Santana. 

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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