HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders fired coach Antonio Pierce on Tuesday after two seasons, the team announced. He lasted just one full season on the job after getting promoted last offseason from interim coach.
The Raiders (4-13) lost 10 straight games this year before winning two of their last three games. Las Vegas lost to the visiting Los Angeles Chargers 34-20 on Sunday.
Pierce spent nine games as interim coach in 2023 after the Raiders fired coach Josh McDaniels. After posting a 5-4 record, reinvigorating the locker room and fan base and quickly instilling a positive culture, owner Mark Davis was so sold on Pierce that he hired him after interviewing just two external candidates.
Now, Davis will have to hire his sixth coach since he became the controlling owner of the franchise in 2011. The next coach will be the Raiders’ third since they relocated from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020.
General manager Tom Telesco is safe, according to team and league sources. His first batch of free-agent signings hasn’t panned out so far. His biggest move was signing defensive tackle Christian Wilkins to a five-year, $110 million contract. While Wilkins was playing well, he suffered a Jones fracture in Week 5 that landed him on injured reserve. The only other significant free-agent addition was quarterback Gardner Minshew II, who struggled in nine games as the starter and was benched three times before breaking his collarbone.
Telesco’s saving grace is the initial draft class he put together has been a home run. Tight end Brock Bowers is a star, Jackson Powers-Johnson has shown promise in starts at guard and center and starting right tackle DJ Glaze has been reliable. Fourth-round pick Decamerion Robinson also showed some promise, starting the last seven games for an injured Jakorian Bennett. Telesco’s 11-year run as the Los Angeles Chargers GM was a mixed bag, but he’s gotten off to a solid start with the Raiders.
Davis mulled running it back with Pierce, who kept the team competitive despite the quarterback mess, the defection of star receiver Davante Adams and losing five defensive starters — Maxx Crosby, Wilkins, Malcolm Koonce, Bennett and Marcus Epps — for the season to injury.
There were some rough moments for Pierce, from saying his players “made business decisions” in a Week 3 loss to the Carolina Panthers (he later apologized) to having Adams tell him he no longer wanted to play for the Raiders a week later. Adams was one of three stars, along with Crosby and running back Josh Jacobs, who had told Davis they wanted Pierce to be kept on after his interim stint, but the two had a disconnect at training camp. Then, in November, Pierce fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy after a dismal first eight games by the offense.
There were also some game management issues during the losing streak, culminating in a sequence against the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 29 where the Raiders spiked the ball to kill the clock and then ran another play to kill time but wound up fumbling rather than attempting a game-winning field goal.
It’s possible new minority owner Tom Brady had a strong voice in the decision, and he has close ties to potential head-coaching candidates Mike Vrabel and Brian Flores from their time together with the New England Patriots. Brady is broadcasting games for Fox, including this season’s Super Bowl, and has not addressed his immediate role with the Raiders.
The former NFL quarterback and seven-time Super Bowl champion purchased a minority stake in the franchise in October, and while Davis remains the controlling owner, he said he will lean on Brady’s advice when it comes to making football decisions.
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(Photo: Denny Medley / Imagn Images)
