The Las Vegas Raiders season has been one of the worst in recent memory. Any excitement around Antonio Pierce has completely evaporated.
The team took a big risk on Pierce. He only had two years of experience coaching at the NFL level and the Raiders are stuck in the best-coached division in the NFL.
Based on how this season has gone, there's at least a chance Las Vegas will fire him after Week 18. In fact, it's starting to look likely that they will make a move. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, there's belief around the NFL that Pierce will get the axe after the season.
“The belief in league circles is that Antonio Pierce's future as the head coach remains in serious doubt,” Rapoport said. “ Davis has only said that he will take until after the season to make the full evaluation. His new minority owner, Tom Brady, has never been associated with anything like 3-12. He has been consulting and getting opinions on how to fix things.”
The Insiders on @NFLGameDay Kickoff with @MikeGarafolo and @TomPelissero: #Patriots still view Jerod Mayo as their leader; #Giants have two key (and separate) decisions to make; Future of #Raiders coach Antonio Pierce is in doubt. pic.twitter.com/ZmTwXVzmCs
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 28, 2024
It's possible that Pierce could still have a bright future as a head coach but he really needs experience. A lot of the mistakes he's made this year have been due to his inexperience. The problem is that it is really difficult to win on the job when the stakes are as high as the NFL.
It would be a risk for the Raiders to keep him another year. He has a hard time identifying coaching talent on the offensive side of the ball but finding a great offensive coaching staff is the only way he's going to have success.
Pierce also has never called defensive plays at the NFL level so he can't be trusted to step in if they have defensive issues. If the Raiders don't think Pierce is the right guy, it doesn't make sense to keep him going forward.