The New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders are two of the worst-performing NFL teams this season. On the one hand, the Pats fired their HC Jared Mayo, the Raiders have decided to go ahead with their skipper, Antonio Pierce. There is an obvious outrage among the Raiders Nation against Pierce for obvious reasons and the Raiders head coach seems to have acknowledged the fans’ demand.

“We’ve got a guy who’s played at the highest level, won a Super Bowl, he’s been a captain, and now he’s a great coach and he’s a leader,” said Raiders DE Maxx Crosby after winning the season finale against Broncos in the 2023 season. Fans in the crowd chanted the name of the head coach, Antonio Pierce. But after the dismal 4-13 win-loss record in 2024, the tide has changed. Fans want him ousted from the franchise. Being a part of the league for more than 2 decades now, he understands the dynamics.

During the last press conference of the 2024 season, he was all smiles. Pierce already told everyone that the management hasn’t told him anything bad yet. But when asked if fans want him to be fired, he replied, “When you take this job and when you’re in front of this room, in front of the building, as the face of organization, you take the good with the bad. When we win everybody’s (like) AP AP, when he lose, get rid of his a–. I get it. That’s the nature of the beast. It was no different when I played.” He also thanked the fans for their overwhelming support.

That’s right. When he took over as the interim head coach after week 8, the team was reeling at a 3-5 record. Pierce helped them win 5 of the remaining 9 matchups. He became the fans’ favorite. They believed in him, thinking he was the man. But all hopes crashed in 2024.

With a 2-2 record after week 4, the Raiders had a 10-game losing streak. It changed everything. Rotating 3 QBs in tandem also couldn’t save them from having a debacle this year. After winning the week 16 game against the Jaguars, the fans were angry for giving up the draft advantage. So the fans want him fired. But for the head coach, it didn’t matter. He did his best with what he had. However, the management wants to consider all aspects.

Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco to discuss offseason plans

Raiders’ GM Tom Telesco has supported the head coach well. While talking about what things they need to sort out in the offseason, AP said, “Obviously it starts with me. Whenever I talk with Tom (Telesco) and Mark (Davis) when we have our conversations but then it goes into the coordinators and our position coaches.”

Antonio Pierce has several plans. It ranges from injuries to keeping his staff intact to drafting new quarterbacks. But everything will be a challenge. This year, injuries derailed their season. When Gardner Minshew broke his collarbone, he had to rely on relatively young QB Aidan O’Connell.

Even O’Connell got injured and was placed on the injured reserve (IR) list. They had to work with Desmond Ridder. That was the tough times. He would certainly seek some advice from the Raiders’ new co-owner, Tom Brady. He would also like to discuss his plans with the head coach. And the direction he wants the franchise to go in.

His competitive spirit might give them new confidence. Raider Nation is waiting for the updates. There has been no solid news yet. But everything will start getting clearer in a couple of weeks.