Before the Las Vegas Raiders retained Antonio Pierce as their head coach, they apparently considered making a push for Bill Belichick.
In an extensive piece in which ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham and Jeremy Fowler detailed Belichick’s failed coaching search, they mentioned that the Raiders seriously thought about bringing in the New England Patriots legend.
“The Raiders had just fired a pair of Belichick’s former acolytes in Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler,” they wrote. “Owner Mark Davis considered reaching out to Belichick but instead removed the interim from head coach Antonio Pierce’s title after interviewing other candidates.”
You have to think that Raiders players had a rather significant role in Davis opting to spurn Belichick and stick with Pierce.
Maxx Crosby and other Las Vegas players expressed staunch public support for Pierce, and Crosby even hinted that he would ask for a trade if the Raiders went in another direcetion.
Of course, we don’t know if Crosby and Co. actually had any knowledge that Davis was weighing the idea of hiring Belichick, but one thing was made abundantly clear: the locker room loved Pierce.
Pierce, who had previously been serving as the team’s linebackers coach, took over for McDaniels midway through last season after the Raiders got off to a 3-5 start. They proceeded to go 5-4 under Pierce, playing smashmouth football and seeing a dramatic turnaround on the defensive side of the ball.
Las Vegas even upset the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Christmas Day, which may very well have been the win that ended up securing Pierce’s job heading into 2024.
We’ll see if Antonio Pierce can continue to deliver in Vegas next season. As for Bill Belichick? It remains to be seen if he will ever land another head-coaching gig in the NFL again.
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