Raiders' Antonio Pierce pleads his case for Champ Kelly to stay as GM
After the season's over, and we are all talking about yet another disappointing season for the Las Vegas Raiders, the team will be forced, or not, to look for a new general manager and head coach. Of course, the rest of the staff comes after. Or they can stay in touch with who they have […]
After the season's over, and we are all talking about yet another disappointing season for the Las Vegas Raiders, the team will be forced, or not, to look for a new general manager and head coach. Of course, the rest of the staff comes after. Or they can stay in touch with who they have in place at this moment.
Either way, they have some tough decisions to make. And Antonio Pierce isn't making it easy on them. The first-time head coach in college or NFL is doing a pretty good job for someone whose only professional coaching experience has been as a linebackers coach. Has he had hiccups? Sure. Every first-time coach does. Could he be better? Most definitely. But he is doing a great job with what he has been given.
Rich Bisaccia, who took over the Raiders when Jon Gruden resigned, had a streak where he went 1-5 as the interim head coach. So, I'd say that Antonio Pierce being 2-2 through four games, with the vibes being better than ever, is a good thing.
But it hasn't been all Pierce. His new sidekick has been great, too. Interim general manager Champ Kelly is also fighting for the actual GM title in 2024. When Dave Ziegler was fired, he was given the interim title as the assistant GM. As far as things are currently going, Pierce is pleading his case for Kelly to get the job in 2024.
"And I think what Champ [Kelly] has done, which I really appreciate, is he has his opinion, he has his thought and his vision, but he brings it to me before he even says it, then asks me mine," Pierce said. "And I think if we agree or disagree, we walk out understanding what's best for the organization, what's best for the team, what's best for us.
"And when you have that, then there's no hidden agenda, and everything's out in the open; it's black and white. There's no gray in this room; there's no gray in this building. Everybody knows where they stand, and I know where each other stands. We know what the vision and the culture and what we want this to look like for whatever many weeks we've got going forward, and we're going to do our damnest to make it happen, and we'll let the chips fall when it falls at the end of the day."
Now, just because Pierce is saying all this does not mean Kelly will get the job because Pierce doesn't even have the job locked up yet. From everything I am hearing, Mark Davis loves them both, as the two remind him of the old days when being a Raider actually meant something.
But he also knows that he can't jump to one decision too quickly. Of the two of them, if there is anyone who has a higher chance of getting the job, it is probably Kelly, though. He actually interviewed for the job the first time around a few years ago.
The Raiders have to nail this decision. They nailed the decision to have the two of them be interim staff members; now it's time for the real thing.
Raiders name assistant GM Champ Kelly as interim GM
The Raiders fired Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler on Tuesday.
