Raider Nation's Hopes Rest on Mark Davis
With the Las Vegas Raiders eliminated from the National Football League playoff picture heading into the season's final game on Sunday against the AFC West rivals Denver Broncos, one big question remains for the Silver and Black.
Will owner Mark Davis remove the interim label from Coach Antonio Pierce’s title, or will he again look outside the Raiders organization to find someone else to lead the team on the field?
While Raiders players, members of Raider Nation, and others around the team, including Hall of Fame defensive back Charles Woodson, have expressed their support for Pierce, Davis has not yet tipped his hand to his thinking.
“Superstar pass rusher Maxx Crosby and other players have been effusive in their praise for Pierce, and several members of the extended Raiders family have reached out to Davis to express their support as well,” Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport wrote in a recent NFL Network story, “But Pierce is not a slam dunk for the job.
Las Vegas Raider Nation's hopes rest on Mark Davis.
© Gary A. Vasquez | 2023 Nov 12
“Davis is a believer that you need a big name in Las Vegas, and his two coaches there so far (Jon Gruden and Josh McDaniels) fit the bill. Who could it be this time? Bill Belichick is certainly one if he becomes available, though it’s hard to imagine a return to the Patriot Way would play well in the locker room after McDaniels’ 9-16 stint.
“Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh, a former Raiders assistant, would qualify. And Davis still loves Gruden, who has not taken a full-time coaching role since his resignation from the Raiders in 2021.”
Davis faced a similar situation in 2021 after Gruden resigned during the season because of an email scandal, and the Raiders went 7-5 under Interim Coach Rich Bisaccia and made the playoffs by winning their last four games to finish at 10-7 with a 35-32 overtime victory over the Los Angeles at Allegiant Stadium.
The Raiders lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 26-19, in a divisional playoff game at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. While many people wanted Davis to keep Bissacia as head coach, he hired McDaniels during the offseason, and we know how that turned out.
Pierce has led the Raiders to a 4-4 record and respectability since taking over for McDaniels, including an impressive victory over their AFC West rivals, the Los Angles Chargers, 63-21, and 20-14 over the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs before their 23-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday.
The 45-year-old Pierce played 10 seasons in the NFL for the Washington Redskins, who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2001 out of Arizona, and also for the New York Giants, with whom he started in their 17-14 victory over New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
Pierce, who played in the 2006 Pro Bowl, has coached at Long Beach Poly High, Arizona State, and with the Raiders since retiring from the NFL as a player following the 2009 season.
“At the end of the day, everything is going to be looked at in wins and losses, and I think that’s fair and that’s what this business is about,” Pierce said when asked about being the permanent head coach of the Raiders.
“But I do also think it’s about building the foundation, and I think for the most part, in these eight or nine weeks, it’s been a solid foundation that we’ve built as a team and an organization, that you can look on and say, those are things that went well.”
Davis certainly could do much worse, and he’s shown that before.
Please tell us your thoughts when you like our Facebook Page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
