According to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, while there’s a lot of momentum for Raiders interim HC Antonio Pierce to get the full-time job after the season, owner Mark Davis is a wildcard.
Davis has told people close to him that he’s been impressed with the job Pierce has been doing. The locker room has been effusive in its praise of Pierce and other former players have reached out to Davis to endorse Pierce.
However, Rapoport and Pelissero point out Davis has been a believer that a big-name coach is needed to coach in Las Vegas and has approached his previous two hires with that philosophy.
Should Davis decide to go in that direction again, Rapoport and Pelissero note Patriots HC Bill Belichick would be one of the biggest names available if he and New England part ways as expected. Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh would also qualify as a splash hire, and he and Davis have had some conversations about the job in the past.
They add that Davis still loves former HC Jon Gruden, who resigned in 2021 after racist emails he sent to former Washington team president Bruce Allen were leaked. Davis felt like the NFL forced his hand to fire Gruden.
So while Pierce is probably still the leader for the job, it’s not necessarily a slam dunk. He has two more games remaining this season to reinforce his budding case to remain head coach.
We’ll have more on the Raiders’ coaching situation as the news is available.
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