The Las Vegas Raiders have selected Antonio Pierce as their new head coach. As the Raiders’ interim head coach in 2023, Pierce—a nine-year NFL veteran and a former Super Bowl champion, team captain, and Pro Bowl selection—finished with a 5-4 record in nine games.
Prior to accepting the position of Interim Head Coach on October 31, 2023, Pierce was in his second season as the Raiders’ linebackers coach. With a franchise-record 63 points in a Week 15 victory against the Chargers, he guided the Silver and Black to a 3-1 record against AFC West opponents. Additionally, he led one of only three NFL teams to score 20 points or more in each of the last four regular season games.
The Raiders, who had the fewest penalties in the NFL at the end of the season (75), went two games without receiving a single penalty flag while playing under his direction. Following Pierce’s hiring in Week 9, the Raiders were in a tie for third place in sacks (30), tied for fifth place in turnover margin (+6), and tied for tenth place in takeaways (14). Additionally, the defense gave up a league-low 16.0 points per contest.
Pierce was instrumental in the development of rookie linebacker Luke Masterson during his debut season with the Silver and Black in 2022. Masterson ended with 50 tackles (26 solo), which was third among undrafted rookies in the NFL and second most in a single season in Raiders history. Divine Deablo, who led the team with an average of 9.25 tackles per game—the 11th highest in the league—was also coached by Pierce.
Pierce worked for five seasons as the linebackers coach at Arizona State before taking on the roles of associate head coach and defensive coordinator before to joining the NFL coaching ranks. After being elevated to defensive coordinator in 2021, Pierce assisted the Sun Devils’ defense reach the top of the Pac-12 in a number of categories, including scoring defense (20.8), total yards allowed per game (326.3), defensive touchdowns (three tied for first place), interceptions (16), and sacks (27).
Pierce led the football team at Long Beach Poly High School for four seasons before joining ASU. After transferring from Mount San Antonio College, the Long Beach, California native played collegiately for two seasons at the University of Arizona. For the Wildcats, he had 152 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, and seven sacks in 23 games played.
Before joining the New York Giants as an unrestricted free agent in 2005, Pierce spent four seasons with the Washington Redskins after entering the NFL as an undrafted free agency in 2001. Pierce participated in 115 games over the course of his nine-year career, starting 85 of them. He finished with 732 tackles (462 solo), eight sacks, seven interceptions, eight forced fumbles, and eleven fumble recoveries. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2006 and played for the Giants, who won Super Bowl XLII.
Pierce appreciates the help from his wife Jocelyn, kids Anthony, De’Andre, Carmelo, Preston, and Santana, and daughters Jayla and Destini.
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