While many around the league and the Las Vegas Raiders fanbase praised the organization for making Antonio Pierce their full-time head coach, a new poll shows some executives and coaches around the league rank it at the bottom among the various head coach hires this offseason.
Antonio Pierce was thrust into an extremely difficult position midway through the 2023-24 season. After Josh McDaniel’s disastrous run as head coach became too much for owner Mark Davis to continue to endure, he fired the former New England Patriots coach and elevated Pierce from linebackers coach to the top job.
Yet, despite the difficult odds the former New York Giants captain was able to lead the team to a 5-4 finish, score huge wins over rivals the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs, and give Raiders supporters hope of a big season in 2024. Unsurprisingly, the positive vibes and progress late in the season helped Pierce land the full-time job in January.
While the decision to forego bigger and more proven names on the head coach market to retain Pierce was lauded around the NFL, it seems some inside the league feel it wasn’t the best decision this offseason. On Wednesday, The Athletic polled a half dozen “high ranking” executives and coaches about the head coaching hires recently. Unsurprisingly, the Chargers bringing Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh was the most well-received.
The move that got the second-most votes was the Atlanta Falcons hiring former Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. However, four other hires — including the Tennessee Titans bringing in Brian Callahan — received votes as the best head coach hire and not the Raiders and Pierce.
Making it all the more concerning is that the Las Vegas Raiders’ decision to bring Pierce back for 2024 received no votes. The only other move that also received zero thumbs up was the Carolina Panthers’ decision to make Dave Canales their head coach after just one season of being an offensive coordinator at the NFL level.
None of the teams that made head coach hires were a part of The Athletic’s poll. It is very surprising and a bit concerning that what Antonio Pierce did in his nine games as head coach did not impress some around the league like it did many in the media and Las Vegas fanbase.
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