New Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce is quickly shaping the team to reflect his own style. He wants the team to have fun, so they signed two of the NFL’s most entertaining personalities: defensive tackle Christian Wilkins and quarterback Gardner Minshew.
Pierce recently spoke with ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez and shared why they appealed to the Raiders.
“In fact, Pierce told ESPN.com that Wilkins and Minshew were ‘highly motivated guys’ who were also ‘team guys’ with ‘personality’ and a ‘motor’ that made them more than culture fits,” Gutierrez wrote in a March 15 column.
Pierce aims to create a specific culture in Las Vegas. He wants players who enjoy having fun but also require them to be hard workers who are desperate to win games. Wilkins and Minshew meet that criteria. The team had a very different culture under former head coach Josh McDaniels, who emphasized the importance of taking football seriously and downplayed fun with the game.
It remains to be seen if Pierce’s approach will be successful, but general manager Tom Telesco is working to surround him with players who should fit well.
Maxx Crosby Explains What Makes Antonio Pierce Effective
When Antonio Pierce was promoted to interim head coach after Josh McDaniels was fired during the season, it wasn’t expected he’d have a real shot at the full-time job. He had only one year of NFL coaching experience before taking the job.
However, he was able to get the players to rally around him in an unprecedented way and led them to a 5-4 record to end the season. Defensive end Maxx Crosby was one of the most vocal supporters of Pierce getting the full-time head coaching job and he recently opened up about what made him standout in the position.
“Antonio gives the guys confidence when you have a coach who truly believes, it’s infectious,” Crosby said on the March 15 episode of “The Rush.” “Without that, we don’t go into Kansas City on Christmas Day and win. We knew we would go in there and win.
“Everyone outside the Raiders’ organization thought we would lose that game. We never hesitated. And having a coach like that, A.P. is as real as they come.”
Belief can only take a team so far, but surrounding the coach with more talent will only help the Raiders and give him a fair chance to prove that he is the right guy for the job.
Las Vegas Raiders Still Have a Lot of Work to Do
The Raiders did add Christian Wilkins and Gardner Minshew, but they’re also losing Josh Jacobs and Hunter Renfrow. Additionally, while Minshew has proven to be a very good backup quarterback, he’s not a long-term option as a starter.
The Raiders won’t make progress unless they find a franchise quarterback. Antonio Pierce is off to a good start, but this roster still needs work if they’re going to realistically compete. Finding a franchise quarterback is the top priority, but if there aren’t any options this offseason, the team should focus on rebuilding the offensive line and fielding an elite defense.
