On Thursday, Yahoo’s Charles Robinson wrote a scathing review of the 14 years since Mark Davis took over ownership of the Raiders.
His analysis pointed to the need for the organization to find a sustainable identity and blamed Davis for the failed culture that has haunted the Raiders for more than a decade.
But one detail that stood out in Robinson’s story involved the process that played out around Antonio Pierce in his final days with the team.
According to several reports, Davis and Pierce had been in regular contact in the final weeks of the summer; even discussing scenarios beyond this season.
The Athletic’s Vic Tafur reported on Wednesday that Pierce had just left a “very positive meeting” before he was fired, and Robinson said the former head coach had begun planning out next year’s staff.
“It was a situation so awkward inside the team’s headquarters that, according to sources who spoke with Yahoo Sports, Pierce had already started discussing potential coaching staff changes hours before he learned he was losing his job,” Robinson reported in his Yahoo column on Thursday.
The Raiders have taken criticism for the method and timing of Pierce’s firing, but there is reason to believe they weren’t just dragging their feet.
Going into his final days on the job, there was still a chance Pierce was going to be back for a second season. That dynamic is something that has been alluded to in several reports, and there’s a chance the Raiders wouldn’t have moved on from Pierce if they didn’t think they could get one of their top candidates.
As of Thursday, it doesn’t appear Mike Vrabel is the front runner for the Raiders’ job, but Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said the possibility still exists.
“Conventional wisdom around the league is that Vrabel would take the Patriots’ job. I don’t know that. I haven’t talked to Mike,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast. “I’m simply telling you exactly what people around the NFL think, and a couple of those people are people who know Mike.”
“However, one person said to me last night, Vrabel and Brady are close. There’s a lot of respect there,” Hondo continued. “They believe a hard push by Brady and a sales job by the organization [could make Vrabel a possibility].”
x: @raidersbeat
AP in a bad spot. He just got canned as the Raiders coach and he is on the hook for $20 million plus for the judgment against his wife. Yikes.
No comments on Raiders organization that they all need guidance they will never be a winning franchise again
It may be that Mark is on the Spectrum…
You guys think firing AP was awkward ? How do you think that Telesco one went over? That dude actually did some good things in his one year.
Wrong! Telesco shouldn’t have never happened in the first place after he actually thought he could when ŵiñ a lot of games with Minshew I knew he would be canned
I really think Pierce and Telesco should’ve been given another full year to make adjustments. But as we all know Mark Davis is involved with new confidants and they believe it’s best to start a new front office and coach,
Good luck Raiders
Mark Davis is no AL Davis .Mark Davis is a back stabber he really set AP up for failure that’s why he hired him in the first place, he and Tom Brady knew what was going to happen.
Kellen Moore, Mike LaFleur, Joe Brady,Ben Johnson, Lian Coen are they in the conversation are they coming for an interview before they are gone
All of those guys you just named is no better than AP coaching is not the problem for the raiders .The problem with the raiders is the roster. When you have a tight end your best player on the entire roster, you have a real problem .
Mark Davis and Tom Brady are part owners of the Las Vegas aces WNBA they have built a team that has won two championships in the last couple years are they trying to do the same thing with the Raiders if they can that would be great but this carousel of coaches in GMS I hope they got a plan
I strongly suspect the Aces’ success is due more to the infrastructure that was already in place, and a willingness to cut large checks and stay out of the way than any type of organizational leadership Mark Davis provided.
With Mark “no clue” Davis chaos ALWAYS reigns supreme! The only sure thing is that he’ll bomb out on the new HC and GM hire. Brady wanting to interview his OLD HC, Belichek, doesn’t inspire much confidence in his ability to help the team make the right choice. Fans need to realize that Brady hasn’t EVER ran an organization, he’s only a big name.
Exactly. And if you watched his broadcasts this year, Brady didn’t exactly demonstrate a ton of brilliant football insights. He was a great player, but that doesn’t mean anything beyond that.
You’re wrong about one thing. Mark Davis isn’t only relying on Brady because he’s a big name. It’s also because Brady is his friend and has presumably been nice to Mark. Mark has a problem in that he doesn’t have many contemporary friends or contacts in the NFL, so he defaults to those who make him feel comfortable. That’s why Ken Herock who hasn’t played a role with any organization in like 40 years was leading searches for head coach. Is Brady a better option than guys like Herock? Probably just because he’s only been out of the league for a few years instead of 40… But that’s hardly an endorsement.
Mark needs to sell. All Brady is gonna do is hire one of his Patriot flunkies. Brian Flores & Mike Vrabel would be 2 of the worst hires. Ben Johnson isn’t coming here. It doesn’t matter what you offer him. And a GM? They will be just have to deal with Brady meddling.
Call up the Fertita brothers Mark & give us the owners this great fan base deserves.
These young men in the NFL do not want to play for Bill Belichick. He needs to stay away,and coach those college boys at UNC.
Davis needs to stay out of the team operations or sell the team. I have been a Raiders fan since Flores was the QB. This is so disturbing to see this team on the bottom. We need help at all positions except tight end. What was a dynasty under AL, is a laughing stock of all professional sports. Hopefully Tom Brady can get the ship in the right direction.
Tom Brady only has Tom Brady interest the ship was sailing in the right direction at one point until Mark Davis hired Jon Grùden Mckenzie as GM was better than any other GM let’s call a spade a spade the raiders never really gave a black man a chance right now Louis Reddick is the best GM on the market Aaron Glenn the best coach on the market pair those 2 together and you will at least get a playoff chance
Mark Davis is the problem and you can not fix stupid, fire Mark Davis. I was down with my team up until now and this was my 5th decade in the RN. As long as the decisions were logical, and there was common sense and sane moves, I went down with the ship year after bad year. No more, for under Mark Davis nothing is: sane, logical or makes a dam* bit of sense. BOYCOTT THIS DISASTER UNTIL MARK DAVIS SELLS! This is no longer the RAIDERS, it is just MARK DAVIS’ team, and only he could have fuc*ed up what was handed to him on a golden platter.
I think a lot of fans are boycotting the Raiders which is why their soulless stadium is usually filled with the visiting team fans.
Why should anyone go pay good money, line Mark Davis’ pockets, and then watch this dumpster fire team