Antonio Pierce’s Las Vegas Raiders coaching staff is starting to take form and a big name might be joining the group. Former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson recently met with Pierce and stated in a February 7 X post that he was going to ask the coach for a job.
Having dinner with Antonio Pierce & I’m going to ask for a job with the Raiders in some capacity to help diversify my portfolio/resume, this would be my 39th job if all goes well 🙏🏾
He then followed it up with a post saying that he was “officially” a member of the Raiders coaching staff.
Pierce responded to the post by saying “Put me in coach.”
“Put me in coach”
He later said, “Taking over the NFL with former players like 85 … coaching up 17.”
Taking over the NFL with former players like 85 … coaching up 17
17 is likely referring to star wide receiver Davante Adams, who wears No. 17. This even led to Raiders insider for The Athletic, Vic Tafur, responding and saying he hasn’t heard anything official but guessed that Johnson would be a consultant.
Now, Johnson is notable for his antics on social media. He once said he had a tryout for the Raiders, which led to the team responding and saying they weren’t aware of this tryout. The tryout never happened.
UPDATE: According to ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez later on February 7, Johnson is not actually joining the Raiders’ staff, but rather was “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.
Antonio Pierce Talks Luke Getsy Addition
While Johnson is not actually joining the Raiders coaching staff, the team did make an official hire with the announcement of Luke Getsy being named offensive coordinator.
The team initially was planning to hire Kliff Kingsbury but had to pivot after the coach turned them down.
Though Getsy was the second choice, Antonio Pierce was impressed with what he saw from the coach.
“Luke kicked our (expletive) when we played the Bears, didn’t he? Yeah, that was pretty impressive,” Pierce said on February 6, per Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “But I went back to that game. He was one of the few gentlemen that we brought in that we played against that I thought we knew pretty well, and I thought he did a good job scheme-wise.”
Getsy was fired by the Chicago Bears this offseason as the team’s offense has struggled under the coach. The Raiders are hoping that had more to do with the Bears than it had to with Getsy.
Magic Johnson Played Role in Kliff Kingsbury’s Decision
The Raiders wanted Kliff Kingsbury to be their offensive coordinator and there was mutual interest until the Washington Commanders scooped him up. However, there could be more to the story.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, an NBA Hall of Famer may have helped convince Kingsbury to not go to Las Vegas.
“This is as big as it gets for the Washington Commanders,” Rapoport said in a February 5 video posted on X. “To look at the flop that happened when he was with the Raiders, my understanding is Magic Johnson, who is a limited partner with the Commanders, was actually the one to kind of step in and pull Kliff Kingsbury back and go, ‘You know what, if this deal with the Raiders isn’t perfect, maybe there is a home for you in Washington.”
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Former 6-Time Pro Bowl WR Raises Eyebrows After Saying He’s Joining Raiders