Las Vegas Raiders replacement head coach Antonio Pierce reportedly got in hot water with his former boss due to celebrating his New York Giants past, and it seems those same connections could be key in helping him land the full-time head coach gig with the organization.
It has been a wild last few weeks for the Las Vegas Raiders. After losing five of their first eight and a team meeting from hell for Josh McDaniels, the head coach and his fellow Patriots alum, general manager Dave Ziegler, were fired from their roles after just a year and a half with the team.
In McDaniel’s place, the organization elevated linebackers coach Antonio Pierce to the top job. The reasons why the nine-year NFL veteran apparently got the position were a positive relationship with the roster and an impassioned speech about developing a new Raiders culture. However, in that same speech, he reportedly rubbed McDaniels the wrong way.
New Las Vegas Raiders head coach leaning on New York Giants roots
In his pleading to the current Las Vegas roster, he used his time with the New York Giants and buying into the plan during their season that led to the upset win over the Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl as an example of what belief can do for a team. McDaniels was a coach for that team and did not take kindly to the comments and let Pierce know about it after the meeting. Who knows if it might have eventually cost the former Giants captain his job, but fortunately for him that possibility was averted in Week 8.
However, it seems that same New York history is playing a key role for the first-time head coach who is now 2-0, including a Week 9 win over the Giants. On Saturday, CBS Sports reported, “Pierce has leaned on his head coach from his playing days, Tom Coughlin, to help him navigate head-coaching waters.”
Coughlin led the Giants to their last two championships in 2008 and 2012. His tenure with the team ended in 2015 after a trio of losing seasons, but he ended his run with a 102-90 record. Before taking the job with the Giants, he was the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars for eight years, which included four winning seasons and one trip to the AFC Championship.
The help and advice seem to be working because new reports claim Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis has been “impressed” by the job Pierece had done over his first two weeks and the massive shift in the locker room atmosphere in that time.