The Las Vegas Raiders failed miserably once Antonio Pierce took over as the full-time head coach, but he was absolutely the right hire at the time. The players on the team advocated for him publicly, and he had the pulse of the fan base, so owner Mark Davis was painted into a corner a bit.
While Pierce earned the head coaching gig, interim general manager Champ Kelly was supplanted by Tom Telesco, a veteran front office member fresh off 11 years as the general manager of the Chargers' organization. These two clearly did not mesh, as both were fired after a 4-13 campaign.
Pierce recently accepted a job as a gameday analyst for CBS Sports on NFL Today, and he sent an awkward message to the Raiders before their Week 1 game. That was not the only thing he said, however, as he provided a not-so-veiled reason as to why he may have failed in Las Vegas.
Antonio Pierce clearly blames Tom Telesco for failed Raiders stint
When asked about the Raiders, his former employer and childhood team, Pierce started off by praising Pete Carroll and acknowledging his incredible résumé as a coach. But then, he unleashed a bit on his tenure with the team.
"The culture, the accountability, the responsibility, and then the commitment, right? Everything with the Raiders is about Commitment to Excellence. Well, how do you have excellence? You need some kind of consistency, right? And with Pete Carroll, the biggest deal with him is, he's been there and done that before. He's won everywhere he's been. USC, the Seattle Seahawks, (and) he brings in a culture. I think it's no different than what I tried to do last year. You bring in a coach, you get guys excited, but you gotta maintain it," Pierce said. "But I think the key thing that happened for Pete Carroll: he got his quarterback. He got his quarterback, he got the guy that, 'Look man, I go to war for this guy,' and that's what Geno Smith said out (of) the gate. Then, he went and got a running back. So, it's interesting for me, because that's what I wanted last year, and I didn't get it. My guy, Josh Jacobs, he plays for the Green Bay Packers. But, better yet, I think with (Carroll) and (general manager John) Spytek, they've done a great job of working together. It always starts with the head coach and GM being on the same page."
Antonio Pierce said on NFL Today on CBS Sports that he wanted to keep Josh Jacobs, but didn't get "his" quarterback.
— Vegas Sports Today (@VegasSportsTD) September 7, 2025
He emphasized the importance of the GM and head coach being aligned, stating, "It starts with the GM and HC being on the same page."
Pierce also expressed his… pic.twitter.com/MR0jIMxaap
No matter how you slice it, it seems like talking about the Raiders is still a bit raw for Pierce. He was definitely dealt a bad hand, losing Jacobs and having to stage a quarterback battle between Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell, all of which Telesco set up for him.
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Telesco did bring in players like Brock Bowers, Jackson Powers-Johnson and DJ Glaze in the draft, as well as free agents like Christian Wilkins, Alexander Mattison and Darnay Holmes. He also re-signed Adam Butler and John Jenkins, so Telesco was not devoid of solid moves.
But, overall, the roster that Telesco built was brutally untalented compared to the rest of the AFC West, and it showed in 2024. Pierce is not absolved of blame at all, as he made several unprecedented in-game decisions, and the team looked unprepared almost every week.
Clearly, these two were not a strong pair, as Pierce alluded to in his statements. Regardless of where the onus actually belongs, it is clear from Pierce's statement that he blames Telesco for how things went down in Las Vegas.