Getty Antonio Pierce & Mark Davis of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Interim head coach Antonio Pierce made his strongest case yet as to why he should be the full-time Las Vegas Raiders head coach with a Week 16 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s difficult to know for sure what owner Mark Davis will do after the seasons but it’s looking more and more like Pierce will get the job.
The coach spoke about what he’s done this season and how he’ll make his case to Davis about why he deserves to be the head coach.
“My resume is on the grass. What do you want? I can put up a fancy presentation, I’ve seen that before,” Pierce said of making his case to Davis for the head coaching job during his December 26 media availability. “I can put up stats, I can put up my resume, but the best thing that happened for me was an opportunity. I said this maybe last week, the worst day I was going to be as a head coach was my first day. And each day is my job and I really take pride in growing each and every day to get better. No different than when I was a player to get better. And by the end, you look at it, whatever your career was and whatever my coaching career is, and you sit there and say, ‘Look, this is what he was.'”
Pierce then sent a clearer message on what he hopes Davis is seeing from the team.
“And hopefully Mark Davis sees improvement and growth within our team,” he said. “He sees the style and play that he wants from the Raiders. He sees a fan base that’s behind us. He sees a building that loves coming to work and loves being here. And people that’s covering the team, enjoying covering the team. And at the end of the day, we got to win. And right now, my record, our record is 4-3.”
Due to the Rooney Rule, Davis can’t make a decision until he’s interviewed two external minority candidates so Pierce will have to wait until after the season to know his fate.
“My resume is on the grass…hopefully Mark Davis sees improvement & growth in our team, he sees the style of play he wants from the Raiders.”
Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce speaks on his chances of remaining head coach beyond the end of this season.
🎥: By @Sean_Zittel,…
Antonio Pierce Talks Kansas City Chiefs Win
The Raiders had lost six straight games against the Chiefs heading into Week 16. It was only the fourth time Las Vegas beat the team since 2013. Antonio Pierce was asked if beating the Chiefs would help his cause to become a head coach and he gave an honest answer.
“We’re 2-1 in the division. Beating those guys at home, how many times has that happened in the last 25 years with the Raiders? Does anybody know? Less than a handful, so let’s go three,” Pierce said. “Most of those guys were gurus, not a defensive coach who never did it before, right? I did it a certain way, right? Did it our way, right? The Raiders way, right? He’ll figure that out.”
The Raiders have beaten the Chiefs 10 times in Kansas City since 2000 so Pierce’s numbers are off but it’s still notable that he was able to lead the team to a win in one of the toughest places to play.
Does Antonio Pierce Need to Do More to Earn Job?
At this point, many are ready to give Antonio Pierce the full-time head coaching job now. If league rules didn’t make that impossible, Mark Davis could pull the trigger. However, there are still two games left in the season.
Pierce has to be the favorite to get the job but the Raiders still need to come to play for two more games. If they come out and look terrible, then Davis could start to overthink things. If they come out and are competitive and possibly even win one or both of the final games, it’s hard to imagine anybody but Pierce getting the job.