Antonio Pierce’s first season as Las Vegas Raiders head coach ended with fewer wins than he recorded as interim coach in 2023.
His job isn’t entirely secure moving forward, but as of now, he remains employed and told reporters on Monday he hasn't "heard anything different" regarding his status.
Instead of worrying about his future, he’s focused on personal development, saying on Monday he’s working on “everything that a head coach needs to improve on.”
That might start with trusting his instincts more in making decisions.
“Go back to it, just patience. What I need to do a better job of, I need to go with my gut,” Pierce said. “I was better at that last year. This year I didn’t do what I wanted to do as much as I wanted to do it.”
Pierce might have been dealing with the pressure of being a permanent coach in 2024 as opposed to the freedom that comes with being an interim leader. But he also seemed to be pointing toward how he handled the quarterback situation, which began with a camp competition and produced Gardner Minshew as the team’s starter to begin the season.
Eventually, it became clear Pierce viewed Aidan O'Connell as the team’s best option. The season prior, Pierce named O’Connell the starter immediately after he took over as interim coach. Instead of proceeding with the same approach in 2024, he let the new arrival (Minshew) compete and emerge as the starter from a battle that never produced a clear leader.
That might have undermined Las Vegas’ potential in 2024. Putting O’Connell on uncertain footing certainly didn’t help the second-year passer.
“I think with Aidan, you’re seeing someone that’s finally played 17 games,” Pierce said. "I think just the whole platform, not one time did he went in as a Day 1 starter. He’s been thrown in a game, or coaching change or benched quarterback, so what does that look like when he has the whole offseason as the guy?
“I think a lot of guys that go into that evaluation, I think what you see with Aidan, like what we saw last night was some big-time throws, some throws you want to take back and not do. He’s still working on mobility. … There’s work there for a young player going into Year 3.”
Las Vegas struggled out of the gate and Pierce’s frustration with Minshew surfaced when he benched the veteran multiple times, first for O’Connell and later, when O’Connell was lost to injury, for Desmond Ridder.
When the dust settled, O’Connell was the obvious choice. But by then, the Raiders had already limped to a 4-13 finish, a record that would’ve been worse had the Raiders not won two of their final three games.
That finish reflected positively on Pierce, and after winning his way into the job at the end of 2023, he could see the same fate repeat itself at the start of 2025.
Or, the Raiders could press the reset button. They’re already expected to seek a quarterback in April’s draft, though they might need to trade up to do so as they currently hold the No. 6 overall pick. That ambition might coincide with a desire for a new leader on the sideline.
Regardless of the outcome, Pierce learned to stay true to himself as a coach. He feels as though that is what helped guide the Raiders through their 10-game losing streak to some late-season success.
“Being myself like I am every day. I never change, win, lose or draw,” Pierce said when asked how he kept his team together during their struggles. “I’m A.P. regardless, I’m staying in front of you or I’m outside this building. That’s how I treat those men. I treat them like men. They’re pro football players.
Pierce continued: “I thought they did a good job of buying into what the message and mindset was each and every week. Win, lose or draw, those guys competed. They gave effort. There’s improvement there. You see some young players really step up. That’s what I think this last month really was for us. We won two games in a row and lost last night, but I thought you saw some things. … You could see the fundamentals, you could see the scheme. You could see the players improving. That’s what I think is a plus and a positive to our team.”
Pierce appreciates his team’s efforts amid a lost season and wasn’t afraid to recognize his players for it. He’s learned valuable lessons after his first full season as a coach, too.
We’ll see if that is enough to convince the Raiders to keep him in 2025.