Pierce was asked about his candidacy for the Raiders’ head coaching vacancy a day after he coached the team to an upset 20-14 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
‘My resume is on the grass. What do you want? I can put up a fancy presentation, I’ve seen that before. I can put up stats, I can put up my resume, but the best thing that happened for me was an opportunity,” Pierce told reporters Tuesday. “I said this maybe last week, the worst day I was going to be as a head coach was my first day. And each day is my job and I really take pride in growing each and every day to get better. No different than when I was a player to get better. And by the end, you look at it, whatever your career was and whatever my coaching careers is, and you sit there and say, ‘Look, this is what he was.’ And hopefully (Raiders owner) Mark Davis sees improvement and growth within our team. He sees the style and play that he wants from the Raiders. He sees a fan base that’s behind us. He sees a building that loves coming to work and loves being here. And people that’s covering the team, enjoying covering the team. And at the end of the day, we got to win. And right now, my record, our record is 4-3.’
Pierce, who played linebacker in the NFL for nine seasons and won Super Bowl 42 with the New York Giants, has a 4-3 record as Raiders interim head coach, including big wins over the Chargers and the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in consecutive weeks. His experience as a former player, motivational skills and leadership ability have help the Raiders right the ship after a disappointing start.
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“Antonio Pierce has done an incredible job with the Raiders,” Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan, who was teammates with Pierce on the Giants, said on FOX. “This is not with his staff. He inherited this staff from Josh McDaniels when he was coaching there. I would love to see Antonio Pierce have the opportunity to coach this Raiders team as the permanent head coach. I think he deserves it, and this win (Monday) was a statement toward how great he is as a coach and as a motivator and as a leader of men, which is what he did for me with the Giants and what he’s doing now as a coach for the Raiders.”
The Raiders are still mathematically in playoff contention, although, their postseason chances are a long shot. The Raiders’ final two regular-season games against the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos will likely serve as an extended head coaching audition for Pierce.
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