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HENDERSON, Nev. — Las Vegas Raiders players cleaned out their lockers Monday morning and waited for the final team meeting of the 2024 season, a day after losing their season finale to the Los Angeles Chargers and finishing 4-13.
Many of the players asked reporters what they had been told about coach Antonio Pierce’s status, as the team hadn’t heard anything. So reporters relayed what Pierce had said to them 10 minutes earlier — that he hasn’t “been told anything different” than that he was still the head coach.
“It’s only coming from the outside,” Pierce said of any speculation regarding his job status. “It’s not inside the building. To me, there’s nothing to clear up until I hear from inside the building.”
Raiders owner Mark Davis met with Pierce after the game and declined comment, and while he is clearly considering retaining Pierce, it’s also believed he is weighing input from minority owner Tom Brady and other advisors. Pierce has a 9-17 record since taking over as an interim coach last season and then being named the full-time coach a year ago.
In meeting with the players, they relayed later, he delivered the same message he gave to reporters. Three players said Pierce talked as if he was coming back and said it was a very positive gathering.
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Waiting is nothing new for the players. It’s been a very long season, starting with an uninspiring quarterback competition at training camp in Costa Mesa, Calif. Star receiver Davante Adams missed 10 days of camp for the birth of his son, and it was clear early on he was starting to pull away from the team.
After a Week 3 loss to the Carolina Panthers, Pierce questioned the team’s effort and said some players “made business decisions.” They had a four-hour team meeting the next day, players said. (As we mentioned, it’s been a long season.) The next week, after a win over the Cleveland Browns, Adams asked for a trade as he wanted to play with buddy Aaron Rodgers on the New York Jets.
Players still can’t get over that the team was 2-2 when Adams begged out.
The Raiders also lost five defensive players to injury while quarterback Gardner Minshew struggled. They lost 10 games in a row at one point. But, silver lining alert, they remained competitive and finished the season with two wins in their last three games.
“The young players really stepped up, and that’s a tribute to the mentality of this team,” cornerback Nate Hobbs said Monday. “I feel like the head coach is responsible for the character of the team. He is the main voice that leads the team leaders.
“His character alone, at times, carried this team, and we believe in him like he believes in us.”
Players credited Pierce with keeping the team together.
“I was just being myself,” Pierce said. “I never change, win, lose or draw. I treat them like men. We have honest conversations … it was challenging though. When you lose 10 straight, how do you go in front of your team and motivate them? But to their credit, they learned how to be pros, especially with a young team. They did a good job of buying into what the message and mindset was.
“They competed and you saw improvement.”
Pierce said he doesn’t expect to make changes to the coaching staff, assuming he is retained. He does need to hire a full-time offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, because he fired both during the bye week, and getting that process started sooner than later would be good due to the Rooney Rule requirements.
It’s clear that former offensive coordinator Luke Gutsy preferred Minshew over the incumbent and less mobile Aidan O’Connell. Pierce said Monday that, in hindsight, he wishes he went the other way. Minshew really struggled and was benched twice, throwing nine touchdowns against 10 interceptions and six fumbles in 10 games before breaking his collarbone.
“What I need to do a better job of … I need to go with my gut,” Pierce said. “I did that a lot. I was better at that last year. And this year, I didn’t do what I wanted to do as much as I wanted to do it.”
Finally, Pierce said understands why some Raiders fans turned on him.
“When we win, everybody’s, ‘AP! AP!’ When you lose, ‘Get rid of his ass.’ I get it,” Pierce said. “That’s the nature of the beast. It was no different when I played, right? But Raider Nation has been great. The nine road games we had, they showed up to every one of them. They were loud. … So, Raider Nation has been great to me. I appreciate the support. Good, bad, ugly, I get it. We’ve got to win more games.”
(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
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