Despite not having any official wins under his head coaching resume, the Las Vegas Raiders have to be pleased with Antonio Pierce.
Pierce won the Raiders’ head coaching job after leading the team to a 5-4 record in the second half of the 2023 NFL season.
A former player himself, Pierce was able to communicate clearly and effectively with the Las Vegas locker room and they responded with some of their best football of the year.
Now, Pierce will get a chance to have some input on next year’s roster and he knows that quarterback will need to be addressed.
Although Pierce said he’s confident in Aidan O’Connell, he admitted that the Raiders will be bringing in competition for the starting job.
One prospect to potentially watch out for is Drake Maye who praised Pierce via Raiders Report.
“First, want to congratulate Coach Pierce on what a great job he did this past year,” Maye said. “And so much respect for him for earning the right of the guys and the nod from the program is a pretty cool experience.”
Drake Maye talking about his meeting with the Raiders at the NFL Combine pic.twitter.com/xBoLHEvgpJ
— Raiders Report Mitchell Renz (@MitchellRenz365) March 1, 2024
Maye is considered one of the best quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft and is likely to go in the top three.
Unfortunately, Las Vegas has the No. 13 pick and would probably need to trade up to take someone like Maye.
However, it’s good to hear that prospects like Maye think so highly of Pierce despite not having played for him.
It seems that Pierce is going to be a player’s coach during his career, though that’s certainly a point in his favor when it comes to banding the Raiders together.
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