Antonio Pierce Confronts October Challenges
[Written by Patrick Bean]
Antonio Pierce is enduring an October to forget, as he has had to deal with several situations of adverse effect relevant to his former tenure as a college football staffer, as well as his current role as a coach of the National Football League’s Las Vegas Raiders.
Pierce, whose father is Bermudian, recently bade farewell to the Raiders’ best offensive player, veteran wide receiver Davante Adams, who was traded to the New York Jets following a contentious period. For three weeks, Adams was absent from the lineup, claiming to have a hamstring injury, an ailment that healed once he was reunited in The Big Apple with former Green Bay Packers quarterback and teammate Aaron Rogers last week.
Pierce’s squad has had a disappointing season, with impressive wins against the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns, but they have also endured crushing defeats against the San Diego Chargers, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
On Monday, Pierce said that his team is in a “dark moment,” but dismissed talk of the Raiders checking out, even as they are mired in a three-game losing streak.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to be 2-5 — like to see that flipped — but at the end of the day, you’ve got to live in reality and that’s what we’re dealing with,” Pierce said during his weekly news conference.
“There’s still a lot of football left. The season is not over. We’re not tanking. We’re not trying to lose games to do anything better for the future. Hell, we’re trying to be the best team we can, and right now, we’re not a good team.”
Las Vegas is coming off a disheartening 20-15 loss at the Los Angeles Rams, a defeat that dropped their record at SoFi Stadium to 1-6. The Raiders enjoy a home-field advantage in Southern California due to their calling Los Angeles home from 1982-94 and maintaining a sizable fan base there.
In the past weeks, the Raiders benched starting quarterback Gardner Minshew in favor of Aidan O’Connell, traded three-time All-Pro Adams to the New York Jets for a conditional third-round draft pick, and saw O’Connell suffer a broken thumb in the first quarter of the loss at the Rams.
O’Connell has since returned, but his play has been poor.
The Raiders host the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, and the Raiders are the last team to beat the Chiefs. Las Vegas upset Kansas City, 20-14, on Christmas Day at Arrowhead Stadium.
Meanwhile, at the beginning of the month, the National Collegiate Athletics Association slapped Pierce with an eight-year show-cause order because of violations that occurred when he was an assistant coach at Arizona State.
The majority of the violations were related to what the NCAA referred to as a “scheme” coordinated by Pierce to circumvent restrictions set in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pierce expedited impermissible recruiting contact with 35 prospects, including “tryouts, football facility tours, and entertainment.”
It was also determined that he guided an assistant to engage in tampering with a player enrolled at another school and traveled out of state to observe and meet with prospects during a recruiting dead period.
“In arriving at an eight-year show-cause order for Pierce, the panel emphasized his role as the ringleader in orchestrating the recruiting violations,” according to the report from the NCAA.
Pierce received an eight-year show-cause order for his role in recruiting violations when he served as associate head coach at Arizona State. The penalty would take effect if he returns to college coaching.
“No comment,” now-Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said when asked about the penalties. “I’m employed by the Raiders.”
In the event Pierce is hired by an NCAA school during the show-cause order — which runs until Oct. 2, 2032 — he would be suspended for the first football season and would be allowed no contact with any of the program’s coaches or players during that period.
During the investigation, Pierce provided “false or misleading information” and was unwilling to provide his financial records, according to the report. One ASU staff member told the NCAA that Pierce “did not fear the potential consequences for NCAA violations due to the financial security provided by his self-proclaimed wealth.”
“Pierce used his position of authority to pressure staff members into engaging in violations, often by instilling fear that they would lose their jobs if they did not follow his orders,” the report says.
The NCAA also issued a five-year show-cause order for former ASU football analyst Anthony Garnett, who participated in the violations. Garnett would face a one-season suspension if hired during the next five years.
