National Football League

Raiders fire head coach Antonio Pierce after first full season

Published Jan. 7, 2025 3:42 p.m. ET

The Las Vegas Raiders are once again looking for a new head coach.

Antonio Pierce has been fired after going 4-13 in his first full season, according to multiple reports.

After a strong showing as an interim coach in 2023, Pierce wasn't able to carry over that success into 2024. They went 2-2 to open the year, getting one of the season's biggest upset victories when they won on the road against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2.

But the Raiders went on a 10-game losing streak following that loss, watching their hopes of reaching the postseason quickly fade away. Las Vegas had issues at quarterback all season long as well, dealing with injuries and poor play. Gardner Minshew, Aidan O'Connell and Desmond Ridder each started multiple games. Their offense also took a hit when they opted to trade Davante Adams to the New York Jets in October.

Prior to his promotion, Pierce had become popular with Raiders players. He went 5-4 as an interim coach in 2023, replacing Josh McDaniels after a 3-5 start to finish the year 8-9. Star edge rusher Maxx Crosby reportedly had even placed an ultimatum for the Raiders to promote Pierce.

Team owner Mark Davis wound up giving Pierce the permanent job in January and shortly hired former Los Angeles Chargers general manager Tom Telesco afterward.

This will be the third time in four years that the Raiders will be heading into the offseason with a head coach vacancy. They parted ways with Jon Gruden in October 2021 and declined to keep interim coach Rich Bisaccia, who led them to the playoffs. Instead, they brought in McDaniels, whose tenure lasted 25 games.

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