Las Vegas Raiders fire first-year head coach Antonio Pierce

By David Close, CNN

(CNN) — After serving just one season as the team’s full-time head coach, Antonio Pierce was fired Tuesday by the Las Vegas Raiders.

Pierce was dismissed following the team’s disappointing 4-win, 13-loss season.

The 46-year-old compiled a 5-4 record as the Raiders’ interim head coach during the 2023 campaign after Josh McDaniels was relieved of his duties.

“We appreciate Antonio’s leadership, first as an interim head coach and this past season as the head coach,” the Raiders said in a statement.

“Antonio grew up a Raiders fan and his Silver and Black roots run deep. We are grateful for his 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.”

On Monday, Pierce held a press conference and implied he hadn’t spoken to team owner Mark Davis about his status with the franchise.

When asked if he wanted clarity about next season, Pierce said the noise around his future was “only coming from the outside.” He said, “It’s not inside the building. To me, there’s nothing to clean up until I hear from inside the building.”

Pierce said he knew how the business worked: win, and people love you – lose, and it’s time to move on.

“When you take this job and when you’re in front of this room, in front of the building, in front of the organization, the face of the organization, you take the good with the bad, right?

“And when we win, everybody’s like, ‘AP! AP! AP’. And when you lose – get rid of his a**.

“I get it. I get it. That’s the nature of the beast. It’s no different when I played. When you play well, they keep you and then they give you more money. If you don’t, you go to another team,” Pierce said Monday.

A nine-year NFL veteran player, Pierce won Super Bowl XLII with the New York Giants in 2008.

The Silver and Black have played in just two playoff games in the last 22 seasons.

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