Sources: Pierce leading candidate for Raiders job

Interim coach Antonio Pierce has emerged as the leading candidate to become the full-time head coach of the Raiders, with the support of key players in Las Vegas, league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

There will be other options for Raiders owner Mark Davis to consider, but as one source said, “I would be blown away if Antonio weren’t the pick.”

The Raiders have not done any other head-coaching interviews. They have interest in Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, sources told Schefter, but the focus is on Pierce. Pierce, 45, is also interviewing with the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, sources said.

Following the Raiders’ season-ending 27-14 victory over the Denver Broncos, owner Davis told ESPN he is “really excited” about the job Pierce did in leading the team to a 5-4 finish after he took over as interim head coach.

When Davis first elevated Pierce from linebackers coach to interim coach following the Halloween night firing of Josh McDaniels, he told ESPN he did not want Pierce to necessarily “coach,” so much as “lead” and “delegate.”

Raiders players bought into Pierce’s leadership style, with All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams saying he would “run through a wall for that man.” Three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby, who had a career-high 14.5 sacks this season, also voiced support for Pierce.

“It’s legendary,” Crosby said after the season finale. “When you have the right culture, a guy like A.P. that embraces the history of the Raiders, it’s special. … A ton of legends [visit] consistently because the amount of respect they have for him. So it makes you, as a player, want to go out there and show who you are. You know what I mean? You want to be at that level one day.”

At 8-9, the Raiders finished in second place in the AFC West, two games better than last season, after splitting with the division-champion Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers, and sweeping the Broncos.

Pierce went 3-1 in the division, and the Raiders were in every game they played, finishing with impressive wins against the New York Giants (30-6), Chargers (63-21), Chiefs (20-14) and Broncos (27-14), along with quizzical losses to the Minnesota Vikings (3-0) and Indianapolis Colts (23-20) that kept them out of the playoffs for the 19th time in 21 seasons.

Before being named interim coach, Pierce’s lone head-coaching experience was at the high school level, at California power Long Beach Poly from 2014 to 2017. Since then, he worked as an assistant at Arizona State and joined McDaniels’ staff in 2022.

ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez contributed to this report.