Raiders Fire Head Coach Antonio Pierce After 4-13 Season
The Las Vegas Raiders parted ways with Antonio Pierce on Tuesday, ending his stint as head coach after a 4-13 season.
The team announced on social media, “The Las Vegas Raiders have relieved Antonio Pierce of his duties as head coach. We appreciate Antonio’s leadership, first as an interim head coach and this past season as the head coach. Antonio grew up a Raiders fan and his Silver and Black roots run deep.”
The statement further read that the organization was grateful for Pierce’s “ability to reignite what it means to be a Raider throughout the entire organization. We wish nothing but the best for Antonio and his family in the future.”
The move adds to their ongoing instability – their ninth coaching change in just 15 years.
The team struggled through 2024, grabbing two wins in their first 14 games, the AFC’s stats state. This came after his promising time as interim coach in 2023, when he guided the team to five victories, including beating all their AFC West rivals.
Tom Telesco remains as General Manager while the Raiders begin looking for a new head coach.
Before coaching, Pierce worked his way up in the NFL. Starting as an undrafted player with Washington in 2001, he became team captain for the New York Giants during their Super Bowl win, his biography states.
His coaching journey had humble roots – heading up Long Beach Polytechnic High School in 2014. After working at Arizona State, he joined the Raiders under Josh McDaniels. In fact, there’s a story about Pierce’s coaching style and intensity that gained traction online. According to Sporting News, when Pierce was Long Beach Polytechnic High School’s head coach he, “didn’t like how the team looked. Instead of going into the locker room, he took them behind the field and they ran for 20 minutes. Gassers. . . They got a delay of game penalty because they were late for kickoff but won 99-9.”
As interim coach, Pierce showed real potential. His Raiders broke their scoring record by putting up 63 points against the Chargers. However, between weeks 5-15 of this season, the Raiders lost 10-straight games. “Things were even worse on the field. Las Vegas proceeded to lose 10 straight games from between Weeks 5-15, “Only to pick up wins in Weeks 16 and 17 over the depleted Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints, respectively,” NBC Sports reports.
Now the Raiders have big decisions ahead for their 2025 lineup. While finding a quarterback tops the list, they have holes to fill across the team.
The constant coaching changes show a team still trying to find its way. Their next pick needs to break their 22-year playoff drought.
11 Amazing Football Movies Perfect for The Offseason
With the NFL and College Football seasons’ both soon concluding, this often leaves a void in many football fanatics. Football movies are a great source of entertainment as well. Some football fans only watch one sport. Once the Super Bowl begins in February, these fans are left with only Hockey and Basketball for a short time.
While March Madness is captivating, college basketball has lost much of the allure it once had. The NBA and NHL can’t compete with the NFL in ratings either. One way to fill the void of no football is more football! What better way to get over football than by watching Football movies? Movies are always a great way to pass the time.
Great Football Movies to Watch
Watching football movies in the offseason is an exceptionally great way of satisfying the need for football in your life. While there are certainly some quality TV shows about football as well. Some great football shows include “All American,” “Friday Night Lights,” “Last Chance U,” and “Blue Mountain State.” A few of these are raunchy and hilarious, others serious and drama-filled. All have one thing in common, though: football.
I’ve always preferred football movies over TV shows, as there is something magical about a sports epic in movie form. A movie can do things that a series simply cannot. It’s all about the powerful message and capturing those unforgettable moments in under 2 hours instead of 4 seasons. The greatest football movies have strong messages that are always powerful.
Strong Messages
Usually, typical themes are perseverance, overcoming Adversity, and dedicating yourself to becoming the best version of yourself. Another reason football movies are so great is that many are based on a true story. Real-life legendary coaches leading their team to the championship and High School teams who go on insane winning streaks.
So many real-life stories have been turned into amazing football movies. So, if you need something to watch while the football games are off the air, look below. Grab a beer and a snack and sit on the couch to watch one of these 11 awesome football movies listed below! For some other great sports movies, check out this list of 8 movies here!
