Raiders owner Mark Davis gave himself until Oct. 31, the NFL’s trade deadline, to decide whether to fire coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler. After an embarrassing blowout loss to the Lions on Monday night, Davis saw enough and fired both of them Tuesday. He explained why:
“Unfortunately, I had great hopes for Josh and Dave,” Davis said Wednesday, per ESPN. “It just seemed we were going in the wrong direction. So, with the trade deadline, I just felt it was time to make a change, time to make a move.”
Las Vegas is currently 3–5 on the year and the team has just a 9–16 record since hiring the duo from the Patriots in January 2022. Linebackers coach Antonio Pierce will serve as the team’s interim coach and Davis also addressed how he came to that decision.
“Seemed like a fresh approach,” Davis said. “Seemed like the adjustment we need at this time. I was impressed.”
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He added that he wanted Pierce to “lead, not necessarily coach. To delegate to the coordinators and other position coaches. Be somebody they could follow. I felt good about it. I felt good about him.”
Pierce was a linebacker for both Washington and the Giants from 2001 to ’09 before becoming a high school coach in ’14. In 2017 he transitioned to Arizona State where he held several assistant positions before being hired by the Raiders in ’22.
He’ll make his coaching debut Sunday against the Giants with kickoff scheduled for 4:25 E.T. on Fox
