Amid a 10-game losing streak in the middle of the season, it looked like Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce was going to be shown the door. However, the team has now won back-to-back games and Pierce could be building some momentum to keep the job.
The problem facing Pierce is that nobody knows how big of a role Tom Brady is going to want to take on in his first year of being part of the Raiders ownership group. According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, it’s unclear what Pierce’s status is right now.
“Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce’s status has been up in the air for over a month,” Breer wrote in a Dec. 30 column. “The team has continued to play hard for him, the roster’s gotten younger, the young guys have developed and going to Scott Turner as OC has mostly worked. They won Sunday. That said, with the expectation that the football people will be under a mandate to find a long-term quarterback this offseason, change is absolutely in play, if not likely. Tom Brady’s role will come into focus, too. The minority owner is invested in broadcasting, and calling the NFC championship and Super Bowl could likely limit his involvement in a coaching search.”
Something that has to concern Pierce is that there’s a coach available who Brady is very close with. Breer believes that former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel is the favorite to replace Pierce if he’s fired.
“Mark Davis will listen to Brady’s counsel on where Pierce has taken the program and where things should go,” Breer wrote. “There are plenty of well-connected folks who believe Vrabel would be the front-runner for that job. In fact, last year, when Brady showed up at the team’s final practice of the season, some internally took it as a sign that a run at Vrabel, who hadn’t yet been fired in Tennessee, could be on the way.”
Would Mike Vrabel Want Raiders Job?
While the Raiders may covet Vrabel, it’s unclear how he would feel about moving to Las Vegas. He’s one of the top coaching candidates available and should garner interest from every team that has an opening.
Breer dropped a hint at what could make the Raiders more appealing to Vrabel than other potential openings.
“Meanwhile, with Vrabel, it’s important to consider his experience at the end in Tennessee in how he’ll seek alignment. Brady could give him that in Vegas,” Breer wrote.
Vrabel had issues with Titans ownership, which played a role in his firing. He played with Brady for eight years and the two have remained close. That trust level could be what sways Vrabel to Las Vegas.
Will Raiders Actually Make a Move?
Mark Davis has cycled through eight different head coaches since taking over ownership of the Raiders in 2011. He may not be very eager to undergo another coaching search.
That said, none of those coaching hires were made while Brady was part of ownership. Davis could simply allow Brady to make the decision, which likely wouldn’t bode well for Pierce. If the Raiders beat the Chargers in Week 18 to end the season on a three-game winning streak, then this will be a very interesting situation to watch.
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