Marvin Lewis Explains His Role With Raiders

When Antonio Pierce took over the Las Vegas Raiders' head coaching job last season, he only had experience being the man in charge at the high school level. To make the learning curve less steep, Pierce brought in former Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis to serve as an advisor. He's clearly somebody who Pierce is relying on, which led to him taking on the role of assistant head coach this offseason.

Lewis will be a valuable asset for Pierce as he continues to develop as a head coach. Lewis is a very accomplished defensive coordinator and head coach. He likely could've landed any number of jobs but wanted to join Pierce in Las Vegas. He recently opened up about what his role with the Raiders is going to be.

"I think just the opportunity to really assist AP," Lewis said at a May 29 press conference. "From the time that I first met him and had the opportunity to coach him, and then the opportunity to kind of reunite again later on at Arizona State - so kind of was in a similar role at one point there with him there as well, being in support of him, I just have been really impressed all the time with him. Back to 2002 with the now-Commanders, I guess. So, it's just this opportunity."

Lewis is truly looking to be a resource for the Raiders players and coaches.

"I'm here to support [the coaches] in anything I can do that way, as well as the squad, the players," Lewis said. "That's a thing that's important to me. I try to keep things leveled off for them as much as I can."

Lewis Praises Pierce

Pierce never played for Lewis in the NFL but the two coached together as co-defensive coordinators at Arizona State in 2020. There's a lot of familiarity between the two and they clearly have a good working relationship. Pierce is confident enough in himself to surround himself with former head coaches. Lewis thinks that's a testament to how Pierce is as a person.

"He's not stuck on himself, that way," Lewis said. "He wants to hear other people's point of views, and so forth, that way. And that's good, but he has a great direction, himself, as a leader. He takes responsibility for providing the direction and reinforcing it every day."

Unlike the last head coach the Raiders had, Pierce is willing to adapt his style if it's not working and that could be a recipe for success as he moves forward.