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Report: Las Vegas Raiders working on deal to make Antonio Pierce permanent head coach

Nikki Chavanelleby: Nikki Chavanelle01/19/24NikkiChavanelle
Antonio Pierce Raiders
Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports

The Las Vegas Raiders are reportedly near closing on a deal to name Antonio Pierce as the permanent head coach after he concluded the 2023 season as the interim, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Pierce, a former linebacker in the NFL for Washington and New York, is going to take over his first franchise after previous stops as an associate head coach for Arizona State and head coach at Long Beach Poly HS. He served as the linebackers coach for the Raiders prior to his promotion.

The Las Vegas Raiders were the first team to move on from a head coach this season. They gave Josh McDaniels the boot after a loss to the Lions in early November. He was hired to be the Raiders head coach ahead of the 2022 season, in which he led the team to a 6-11 record. He finished his Raiders head coaching tenure 9-16 in 25 games.

After moving on from McDaniels, the team promoted Antonio Pierce to fill in as interim head coach. They finished the season with five wins and four losses under Pierce’s guidance.

Pierce nears deal for first NFL head coaching job

A Long Beach, California native, Pierce went to Arizona following two years at Mount San Antonio College. He went undrafted out of the Wildcats football program but landed with the Redskins and made eight starts as a rookie. Once he made the move to the New York Giants, he became the team’s starting middle linebacker and a defensive team captain.

As a player, Pierce ended his career with a Super Bowl ring from the Giants’ 2008 run. He had 95 tackles that season, along with 10 more during the postseason. He retired in 2010 after his release from the Giants.

Though he planned to become an ESPN commentator, the football field called him home. He started his coaching journey in 2014 at Long Beach Poly High School where he stayed for several seasons before taking over as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator for Arizona State in 2018. He became a co-defensive coordinator under Herm Edwards and eventually replaced him as head coach amid an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations.