Raiders fire head coach Antonio Pierce

Raiders fire head coach Antonio Pierce

One year after being hired as the head coach amid a successful interim stint, the Las Vegas Raiders have fired head coach Antonio Pierce, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter first reported Tuesday.

Another change in Las Vegas: Raiders fired head coach Antonio Pierce, per source.

Raiders now have gone from Jon Gruden, who resigned in 2021, to Josh McDaniels, who was fired in 2023, to firing Pierce in 2025. pic.twitter.com/qoYaOyV4Us

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 7, 2025

The team confirmed the decision shortly thereafter with a statement:

“We appreciate Antonio’s leadership, first as an interim head coach and this past season as the head coach,” the statement read. “Antonio grew up a Raiders fan and his Silver and Black roots run deep. We are grateful for his ability to reignite what it means to be a Raider throughout the entire organization. We wish nothing but the best for Antonio and his family in the future.”

pic.twitter.com/xQ3v0Omy5U

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 7, 2025

Pierce, 46, is the third head coach to be fired since the end of Week 18, joining Patriots’ Jerod Mayo and Jaguars’ Doug Pederson. The New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears and New York Jets all had openings done midseason–none of which have been officially filled.

As of Monday, Pierce was also confident he would remain with Las Vegas for more than one full season.

“I haven’t been told anything different,” Pierce said earlier this week, according to Sports Illustrated’s Madison Williams. “It’s only coming from the outside. It’s not inside the building. To me there’s nothing to clean up until I hear from inside the building.”

Pierce won as many games in 2023 (5) in nine games as he did in 2024 (4) in nearly double the amount. The Raiders finished last in the AFC West at 4-13 and are set to have the No. 6 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

It became abundantly clear pretty soon into the 2024 season that Pierce would not replicate the success he had in 2023–especially due to his conservative game management and lack of collective improvement.

The Raiders will now have their third coach in just three seasons and fifth in five seasons. They haven’t had a head coach last two full seasons since Jon Gruden, and we all know how that went. Their previous three coaches? Jack Del Rio, Tony Sparano and Dennis Allen, who owns one of the worst winning percentages for a head coach in NFL History.

The point I’m getting at is that this team hasn’t had successful hires; the Raiders need way more than just a good coach, but it could go a long way into building a successful foundation which will lead to it being a successful organization.

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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates!

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