LAS VEGAS — Will Mark Davis have patience? Or will the Las Vegas Raiders owner turn to his sixth head coach in his 13 years since taking over for his late father?
Will Antonio Pierce, who started the season with such bravado, get another shot? The Raiders coach has legitimate excuses for a 4-13 season — he begged for a non-Band-Aid quarterback and was given the worst version of Gardner Minshew II. He then watched star receiver Davante Adams ask for a trade in Week 4 and five defensive starters go down for the season with injuries.
For those who tuned in to Sunday’s 34-20 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers for answers, well … stay tuned. Both Davis and Pierce declined to comment on Pierce’s status after the game, though they did meet in Pierce’s office — and Pierce’s weekly Monday news conference is still scheduled.
While there has been speculation nationally about Pierce’s job security for weeks, it appears that general manager Tom Telesco will be be back for a second season. He was hired after Pierce was promoted from his role as interim coach, and Davis has praised a draft class that featured record-setting tight end Brock Bowers and three other starters.
Pierce, meanwhile. has said that the Raiders “culture has been set” and talked Sunday about remaining competitive despite a recent meeting where he had “like 20 new players stand up.” Pierce knows that he has to change some things to earn a second year, and this is what he likely told Davis in their recent talks.
GO DEEPER
Antonio Pierce still has support of Raiders’ players amid uncertain future
Do a better job of putting together an offensive staff
Pierce fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy during the bye week in November, along with offensive line coach James Cregg and quarterbacks coach Rich Scangerello. And while some fans and film gurus will say the offense looked better under interim coordinator Scott Turner and his father Norv, the facts are the facts:
The Raiders averaged 17.9 points in nine games with Getsy and 17.6 in eight games with Turner, who had a healthier offensive line.
Pierce’s first choice was Kliff Kingsbury, who seemingly had agreed to a deal with the Raiders before getting away to the Washington Commanders. Whether that was because he wanted to work with Jayden Daniels or wanted a third year on his contract or something else, only Davis and Pierce and a few others know. Pierce was also interested in Chip Kelly, but apparently he wanted to bring along too many of his own assistants. Maybe the Raiders revisit that.
Pierce also made a concentrated effort to put together a staff of younger coaches and older experienced ones, and leaned on former head coaches Marvin Lewis, Joe Philbin and Tom Coughlin, as well as former defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. Maybe just go young next year.
Marry that staff to a new quarterback
Aidan O’Connell worked hard and improved his movement in the pocket and some of his mechanics this season. But he still has limited mobility and is not as accurate as he has to be given that limitation. That’s why he couldn’t beat out Minshew at training camp and why he is going to have a hard time beating good teams. Take Sunday, when he maxed out to give the Raiders a 10-9 lead late in the second quarter, but an off-balance interception set up a Chargers touchdown, and they never looked back.
.@Chargers pick! Daiyan Henley with his first career INT
📺: #LACvsLV on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/q0zOVsJzA8— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2025
The Raiders can try and select one with the sixth pick in the draft or maybe even in the second round, as the free-agent options are not very appealing assuming Sam Darnold signs a franchise tag with the Minnesota Vikings. The other alternative is Telesco getting creative and trading for a quarterback to “compete” with O’Connell.
“Yeah, I think everybody sees a glaring need of what you need,” Pierce said.
Address the time- and game-management issues
They weren’t as glaring as the season went on, but there were several issues at the end of halves, problems with using timeouts and then the disastrous end of the loss in Kansas City in which the Raiders spiked the ball and then tried to burn time, only to fumble the ball away.
Pierce is a first-year coach, so there are going to be growing pains, and if he leaned on game management assistant Matt Sheldon, then Sheldon — a holdover from Josh McDaniels’ staff — didn’t help. Davis has plenty of money. Have Pierce hire two new guys, if necessary, with a clear and quick plan of operation going into next season.
Work with Telesco to bring back their defensive core
Seventh-year veteran Adam Butler won a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots and been around enough to know things. The defensive tackle said the injuries this year can be a boon for next season because the guys who were forced to play this season will be great rotational guys and backups next season.
There was great optimism surrounding the defense out of training camp, and in their short time together before injuries, Crosby and defensive tackle Christian Wilkins showed that they could be game-wreckers. And that was after the Raiders lost talented pass rusher Malcolm Koonce to knee surgery and before former first-round picks Tyree Wilson and K’Lavon Chaisson came on at the end of the season.
Butler and rookie Jonah Laulu also made plays in the middle in Wilkins’ absence.
While safety Tre’von Moehrig may have played himself into a big contract elsewhere, the Raiders could bring back many of their guys slated to be unrestricted free agents. Besides Koonce and Butler, there is also linebacker Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo, safety Marcus Epps and cornerback Nate Hobbs. (Crosby also recently went on his podcast and said he would like a new deal.)
Spillane was a downhill run-stopper but has become an all-around player and a leader in his two years here, and it would be shocking if he didn’t come back given how much he and Pierce love each other (of course, assuming Pierce is back).
While cornerback Jack Jones had an up-and-down year, second-year player Jakorian Bennett really came on and the Raiders may just need to add one starting-level cornerback to cover ground behind that talented defensive front.
That list could be enough for Pierce to buy some time with Davis.
The X-factor has always been new minority owner Tom Brady, but we don’t really know when or to what degree he is going to start calling shots. (Maybe Davis just wanted to check in with him Sunday night before announcing anything because Brady was busy calling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers-New Orleans Saints game for Fox.)
Davis was positive that Pierce was the right guy for the job a year ago, and if he doesn’t have any better options in mind right now, he might give his gut and Pierce another season. With some tweaks, of course.
(Photo: Ian Maule / Getty Images)
