Antonio Pierce has plenty of support in the Las Vegas Raiders locker room with another influential player backing him to land the head coach job on a full-time basis.
Pierce currently holds the role on an interim arrangement after replacing Josh McDaniels when he was fired on November 1. Over that time, he has led the Raiders to a 4-4 record, including some impressive wins over the Los Angeles Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs.
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Davante Adams came out in support of Pierce on Wednesday and that view has been endorsed by Maxx Crosby.
Crosby, a three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher, told ESPN: “There’s only 32 [NFL] head coaches in the whole world. So you’ve got to find a leader of men. And when you’ve got one of them in the building currently, I don’t know why you would let them go.”
The one thing Crosby wants more than anything else is continuity.
“I’ve made the play-offs one time in five years. It’s bulls—,” he added. “And we’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do moving forward. And I’m sick of change. I’m sick of losing. I just want stability and consistency, and that’s all that matters to me. I want to win.”
Maxx Crosby voted by teammates as Commitment to Excellence Award winner for third straight year@CrosbyMaxx | #RaiderNation
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 4, 2024
Adams is also “rooting” for Pierce to have the interim tag removed.
“I mean, he’s come in and done a great job and he’s continued to win us over,” Adams said of Pierce. “It’s not just the comfortable thing; I think having A.P. here will be good for this organisation.
“He kind of embodies what it means to be a Raider and that mentality, that swag and all the things that he endorses is the things that I believe in.
“So it’s easy for a guy like me, especially having dealt with him a little bit this year now and gotten to know him and see his evolution in front of the team and all those things, all the different fields of being a head coach. So, definitely rooting for him.”
Pierce himself has spoken of his desire to land the gig full-time, although he still needs to convince owner Mark Davis he is the long-term solution.
Pierce said earlier this week: “At the end of the day, everything is going to be looked at in wins and losses, and I think that’s fair and that’s what this business is about.
“But I do also think it’s about building the foundation, and I think for the most part, in these eight or nine weeks, it’s been a solid foundation that we’ve built as a team and an organization, that you can look on and say, those are things that went well.”
