It's been a rough season for Antonio Pierce. And honestly, it's been a rough season for most everyone on the Raiders – but Pierce's first full year as the Raiders' head coach has gone about as miserably it could have. Even beating the Ravens doesn't look as impressive anymore. The season's gone so poorly that, according to one NFL Insider, the Raiders could already be looking at moving on from him this offseason.
RELATED: Did Antonio Pierce seal his Raiders fate vs. Chiefs?
In Albert Breer's latest NFL roundup thingy, he eventually finds his way to the Raiders and, more specifically, what the plan is going forward. Against all odds, the Gardner Minshew/Aidan O'Connell routine didn't work out, which is actually probably good for them in the longhaul. They're now even closer to securing the pick needed to draft the college QB who's been tweeting this exact scenario into existence every week for the last three months, which will be, if nothing else, an exciting reset.
But unless you're the Chicago Bears, you typically don't give a head coach one last shot in the same offseason that you draft a franchise quarterback, which leaves Pierce in a bit of a pickle. It also explains why Breer sounds awfully skeptical that Pierce will be the team's head coach next season.
It sure sounds like Antonio Pierce is coaching for his job with the Raiders over the next five weeks
"So what will be the deciding factor? I’ve heard the football people there could be under a mandate to draft a quarterback in April. And if that’s the plan, whoever the head coach is will have a pretty big impact on who that quarterback is, and how he develops early in his career. This makes the question whether Mark Davis believes Pierce would be the right guy to captain the ship."
In case you didn't read it and are just taking my word for it, Breer also noted that Pierce has done some things well this season, and mentions how it seems like they're still playing hard for him at the end of a pointless season. But between the on-field issues that continue to show up and the bad timing of giant organizational decisions, Breer's overall picture of Pierce's job security doesn't seem great.