Raiders interim head coach Antonio Pierce leaning on two-time Super Bowl winning coach for advice

Antonio Pierce is new at this head coaching thing, and the gig’s been going well so far. Since taking over the Las Vegas Raiders following Josh McDaniels’s firing, Pierce is 2-0 at the helm with his biggest test yet Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.

And while he’s putting his own twist on coaching as he attempts to secure the permanent job, he hasn’t done this alone. A league source tells CBS Sports that Pierce has leaned on his head coach from his playing days, Tom Coughlin, to help him navigate head-coaching waters.

Pierce went undrafted out of Arizona in 2001 and signed with Washington. After four seasons there he signed with the Giants as a starting linebacker in 2005, Coughlin’s second year coaching New York.

Pierce was a captain for the Giants’ Super Bowl XLII team, and he played five seasons there before retiring at the conclusion of the 2009 season.

Coughlin is famous — or infamous, depending upon who you talk to — for how he runs his ship. “Coughlin Time” meant meetings started five minutes early. In the Jaguars facilities, clocks were actually set back five minutes.

Pierce has leaned on Coughlin for advice on how to schedule things out day-to-day, a source says. Coughlin is a two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach and potential future Pro Football Hall of Famer, so Pierce wants to lend his ear when Coughlin speaks.

Pierce’s only previous head coaching experience came between 2014-2017 when he led Long Beach Poly High School in California.

What makes it particularly unique is that Pierce could almost be described as an anti-Coughlin coach. The Raiders locker room was up in smoke after their Week 9 win against the Giants as players danced and celebrated with Pierce — finally out from under the morale-crushing eye of McDaniels. He then gave the players a Victory Monday and a break until Wednesday, when they then prepared for their victory against the Jets in…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/raiders-interim-head-coach-antonio-pierce-leaning-on-two-time-super-bowl-winning-coach-for-advice/

Author : Jonathan Jones

Publish date : 2023-11-18 23:00:46

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