The Las Vegas Raiders will appoint Antonio Pierce their full-time head coach, according to multiple reports on Friday.
Pierce joined the staff in 2022 and took over as head coach midway through this season, going 5-4 overall and 3-1 against AFC West opponents.
Pierce played nine seasons in the league as a linebacker for the Washington Redskins and New York Giants. He had wide support within the locker room after improving upon Josh McDaniels's 3-5 start.
Even still, Pierce's rise to one of the 32 premier jobs in football has been swift and stunning. He entered coaching less than a decade ago as the head coach at Long Beach Poly. Pierce remained in high school ball until 2018, when he joined Herm Edwards's new Arizona State staff. He took on responsibility in his four seasons in Tempe, rising to become associate head coach, defensive coordinator, and recruiting coordinator, before resigning in the winter of 2022 over allegations of NCAA recruiting violations.
Pierce joined the Raiders as linebackers coach shortly thereafter, and became head coach within a season and a half.
Though Pierce returns, the staff will see changes. Ian Rapoport reports interim offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree and "most" of the offensive staff will not return. Hardegree took over the offense when McDaniels and offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi were fired.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.