Getty Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce.
The Las Vegas Raiders‘ quarterback room of Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer and Aidan O’Connell was very much tailored to Josh McDaniels‘ style of offense. All three are still under contract for 2024 but with McDaniels getting fired during the 2023 season, the team is likely to make major changes.
O’Connell will be on the team but Garoppolo is almost certainly going to get cut while Hoyer could either retire or get let go. It’s unclear whether or not the Raiders will target a veteran or rookie quarterback but according to head coach Antonio Pierce, the team will be adding a new quarterback to the roster this offseason.
“I think Aidan O’Connell put himself into a position that whoever we bring in, he should battle,” Pierce said on the February 6 episode of the “Rich Eisen Show.” “I’m all about competition. That would take care of itself. But Aidan O’Connell, as the season went along, I thought did an outstanding job of taking care of the football, managing the game and doing what we asked him to do. … Now, we made some changes on the offensive side of the ball. … I’m sure, as you know, we’ll bring in a quarterback in some capacity and we’re gonna let those guys battle.”
It’s not a surprise that the Raiders have plans at quarterback but this is the first time Pierce has confirmed those plans.
Antonio Pierce Talks Building Coaching Staff
Antonio Pierce has only been coaching in the NFL for two years and this will be his first time putting a coaching staff together at this level. He’s been patient and it helps that he was able to retain defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and much of the defensive staff.
“Keeping Patrick Graham was the key part,” Pierce said, per a February 8 column from The Athletic’s Vic Tafur. “I am fired up and excited about that.”
It’s been a slower process building the offensive staff but the team did hire Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator. Pierce opened up about the process of building his staff.
“It takes patience and clear thoughts, not emotion,” Pierce said, per a February 8 column from The Athletic’s Vic Tafur. “There’s a lot that goes into it. The biggest thing for me is to get people that fit the vision and mold and mentality that I want us to look like in our organization going forward. It’s got to be all about culture — that’s first and foremost. Everybody’s got X’s and O’s — I have seen a thousand PowerPoints — but more importantly, how does that fit in with our players and what we want to do going forward?”
Chad Johnson Not Joining Las Vegas Raiders Staff
Former All-Pro wide receiver Chad Johnson turned some heads recently when he said that Antonio Pierce was hiring him to join the Raiders coaching staff. Pierce even responded and suggested that Johnson was going to coach wide receivers.
However, that was all just an elaborate joke between the two. ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez spoke to Johnson on February 7 and admitted that he’s “just having some fun on social media.”
Just caught up with Chad Johnson and no, he’s not joining Antonio Pierce’s #Raiders staff. Just having some fun on social media.
Johnson hasn’t coached at the NFL level and is still a big star so it’s not surprising that he’s just having a laugh with Pierce.