The Las Vegas Raiders are going to have competition for Antonio Pierce, as the Tennessee Titans appear to be interested in bringing the interim coach to Nashville to lead their team.
Ian Rapoport posted on X on Wednesday afternoon that the Titans have requested to interview Pierce. The Titans surprised the NFL world on Tuesday by parting ways with Mike Vrabel.
The #Titans have requested to interview #Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce for their vacant head coaching job, source said. Las Vegas may have some competition.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 10, 2024
Titans could be interested in stealing Antonio Pierce from Raiders
Pierce took over as the interim head coach after the Raiders fired Josh McDaniels following a 3-5 start to the 2023 season. McDaniels went 9-16 during his not even two years in Vegas while Pierce finished with a winning record (5-4 to be exact).
When asked if he deserved to the Raiders head coach job following the team's season finale victory over the Broncos, Pierce had the perfect response. He noted that doesn't like to say he deserved it but that he hopes he earned it. Raiders fans would probably say that Pierce did indeed earn the job.
Does Antonio Pierce believe he should be the #Raiders permanent guy?
— Levi Edwards (@theleviedwards) January 8, 2024
“I would never use the word ‘deserve.’ Hopefully I earned it.” pic.twitter.com/CNykuVXB5B
The Raiders could be in play for other available coaches such as Bill Belichick and Jim Harbaugh but if other teams are interested in bringing Pierce in, maybe this is a sign that the Raiders should give him the job. The players appear to love him and he's shown that he can lead his team to wins.
Raiders fans, of course, remember when Rich Bisaccia took over for Jon Gruden when he was let go and finished with a 7-5 record. The Raiders were able to get into the playoffs that year but then the front office opted not to hire Bisaccia and he went to Green Bay to coach special teams instead.
The Raiders, as we all know, decided to hire McDaniels. That obviously didn't pan out.
Passing on the interim coach twice is not the route the Raiders should take here. Pierce did a nice job in Las Vegas and deserves a shot with the Raiders.