Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis surely has his criteria for what he wants in his next head coach; the question is, does interim placeholder Antonio Pierce fit the mold?
A few weeks ago, Raider Nation was in an uproar about bringing in Jim Harbaugh, Ben Johnson, and anyone else who wasn’t Antonio Pierce to be the head coach. Everyone found the loss, after the Vikings shut them out, unforgivable. It left them feeling frustrated and discontented. In fact, it almost left fans thinking there wasn’t anything Pierce could do to earn the job.
Blowing out division rival Los Angeles Chargers wasn’t good enough. Scoring a franchise record of 63 points must have been some type of desert mirage, a fluke that got brushed aside for the loss to the Vikings a mere four days prior. A game that left owner Mark Davis holding his face like Macaulay Culkin staring in disbelief as the Raiders used up all the electricity in Allegiant Stadium and left the Chargers on empty.
But that still wasn’t good enough. Prompting the Chargers to fire head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco wasn’t enough. According to most positively enlightened fanatic observers, the Chargers players were folding and trying to get the coach fired.
Since that wasn’t enough, the Raiders went into the home of the Kansas City Chiefs and beat the defending Super Bowl champion.
Checking AP’s resume
Seven games and eight weeks into the season, with two remaining to play, Pierce should be closing in on claiming the permanent position. In less than two months, without any prior NFL-level head coaching experience, he has accomplished more than nearly any Raiders coach in recent years.
To his credit, since taking the job, AP has produced:
- A changed culture of accountability and the cohesiveness of the product on the field
- No. 1 defense (brought from the mid 20’s to closing in on top 5 overall)
- The least penalized team in the league (offense and defense)
- Won in GEHA Stadium (Arrowhead)
- Set the franchise record for most points scored in a single game
- Developing younger talent at an incredible pace
- More wins as an interim head coach than the actual head coach did in one less game
- Currently, a winning 4-3 record
- More wins out of a rookie quarterback than Josh McDaniels, the offensive guru, with handpicked Jimmy Garoppolo
- He empowered the men in the building to be the best versions of themselves and succeed
When Pierce took over, the Raiders were dead in the water at (3-5). Without hope, a million miles out of the division race and barely hanging onto wildcard considerations by a thread. With two games remaining, there are three paths to the postseason, although nothing has been locked down and/or secured. One leads to winning the division for the first time since 2002; another is the 7th seed; and the last is the 6th seed.
Antonio Pierce is a leader of men…
Pierce is a collection of things culminating in his being an exceptional leader. As a player, he was a captain and an impact player on a championship team. He has been a coordinator, a recruiter, a buddy, a father figure, a coach, and a motivator. All fancy ways to say AP is a leader of men.
Being a leader doesn’t require him to be a great schemer or reinvent the wheel. His players love him to death and play hard for him.
Under his watch, the defense has performed as the number one defense in the NFL. Let me say that again. Since taking the job in week nine, the Raiders have fielded “the best” defense in the league, with the third-least amount of money spent on it.
It hasn’t been since the glory days of Al Davis and John Madden, if at all, that the Raiders have ever seen defense play the way it has over the last eight weeks. I have continuously been left giggling like a schoolgirl, screaming and whooping at my television set as the Misfits (self-proclaimed) do something I’ve never seen in silver and black again.
What does Raiders owner Mark Davis want?
At this point in the season, it would be foolish for Mark Davis to not remove the [interim] label from the titles of Champ Kelly and Antonio Pierce. Both have undertaken an interview process far different from what many others perceived it to be. Doing something few have ever done before, essentially under the worst possible conditions to operate under.
Stress-testing Pierce and Kelly midseason without the ability to make trades in season or swap out coordinators and completely overhaul the offense is genius. Mike Tyson once coined the phrase “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” In the cozy comforts of a job interview, everyone has prepared for what they would say they would do in adverse situations. Few can draw back on experiences in the NFL where it happened; no one else who interviews will be able to say they did it under Davis’s watch.
Davis has seen the progression of his team under the watch of Kelly and Pierce. Under the regime of McDaniels and Dave Ziegler, Davis realized the Patriot Way was not the Raider’s Way, and he had to rectify it immediately, regardless of collateral damage.
Winning with someone else’s team
Winning and losing are the ultimate forms of measurement in the National Football League. Grading Pierce based on wins and losses with these factors would set him up to fail. Instead, what Davis said about evaluating Pierce’s performance was that he was taking it on a week-to-week basis. Which drastically changes the outlook of what it would take for Pierce to actually keep the job.
While it has not been perfect by any stretch, Pierce is learning on the job. Clock management, winning, making in-game adjustments, and differentiating when and when not to be aggressive are areas of opportunity. Should these issues be able to be addressed, the positives will vastly outweigh the negatives.
For all the love and admiration bestowed upon Jon “Chucky” Gruden for winning the Super Bowl against the Raiders with Tony Dungy’s Tampa 2 defense and the Buccaneers, Pierce should be getting more praise. After all, the 9-16 team McDaniels couldn’t win with is now back on track to get to the playoffs. Where were they before he got to Las Vegas?
*Top Photo: Getty Images?
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