For a brief moment, it looked like the Las Vegas Raiders locked up Kliff Kingsbury as their new offensive coordinator. That was until contract negotiations fell apart and he decided to join the Washington Commanders.
It’s not exactly clear what happened and Kingsbury isn’t interested in giving many details. He was recently officially introduced as the Commanders’ offensive coordinator and while he didn’t divulge much info, he did speak on the Raiders and head coach Antonio Pierce.
“I don’t want to get into the specifics but I have a tremendous amount of respect for the organization and Mark Davis and [Antonio Pierce] – huge fan of his,” Kingsbury said during his February 15 introductory press conference.
It doesn’t appear there’s any ill-will there but there was definitely a lot going on behind the scenes. It was widely reported that Kingsbury had already accepted the Raiders job so when he pulled out, it was a big surprise. Whether it was an 11th-hour push from the Commanders to hire him or the Raiders simply not giving him the contract is unclear. Regardless, Las Vegas moved forward with Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator and they aren’t looking back.
Las Vegas Raiders Lose Key Assistant
Though the Raiders decided to retain Antonio Pierce as head coach, there have been major changes to the coaching staff. Many of the coaches were hired by former head coach Josh McDaniels and have decided to move on.
According to a February 15 X post from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Raiders’ assistant offensive line coach Cameron Clemmons is taking the same job with the San Francisco 49ers.
This comes not long after the Raiders hired 49ers assistant offensive line coach James Cregg as their offensive line coach, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Clemmons was with the team for three seasons and was well-liked by players.
Raiders right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor came out and praised Clemmons as “one of the best coaches” he’s worked with so his loss could be a bit of a blow.
Andy Reid Shouts out Antonio Pierce
Antonio Pierce’s coaching staff is coming together and the Raiders likely have their eyes fixated on the Kansas City Chiefs. The AFC West rival won its third Super Bowl in five seasons and Las Vegas was the last team to beat them during the 2023 season.
What has to sting Pierce is that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid actually credited the Raiders for helping them have a hard reset late in the season.
“I texted him,” Reid told King, per a February 12 column. “I just said, Hey, beautiful facility, first of all. And I appreciate you kicking our tail because you taught us a lesson. You get complacent in this business, the margin between winning and losing is tiny.
“You better step up. There’s a time and a place for these players that have been here before. You know what it takes. If you’re the veteran that’s dropping the ball or you’re the veteran getting the penalties, you better figure it out. Figure it out quick. This season’s gonna go down.”
Reid’s words were likely meant to be a complement but it couldn’t have been easy for Pierce to watch the Raiders’ biggest rival win a Super Bowl in Las Vegas before the team even played a playoff game in the city.
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Kliff Kingsbury Sends Message to Raiders HC Antonio Pierce