The Las Vegas Raiders need a new head coach in 2024 after owner Mark Davis fired Josh McDaniels midway through the season.
Interim head coach Antonio Pierce coached well for half the season but is not a lock to be hired full-time as the offseason head coaching hiring cycle spins along.
But former Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals defense end J.J. Watt doesn’t think the Raiders should look elsewhere for their next head coach after how Pierce galvanized the locker room and led the directionless team down the stretch.
“AP [Antonio Pierce] should absolutely be the coach down there,” Watt told ESPN’s “Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday. “He is like the embodiment of what they want to be as an organization and who they are. It’s such a perfect fit.”
“Antonio Pierce should absolutely be the Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders..
It’s such a perfect fit and he’s everything that the Raiders are about” ~ @JJWatt #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/1IKHWNTM4C
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 10, 2024
Players have already come out in support of Pierce as the team’s full-time head coach, including star wide receiver Davante Adams.
But the Raiders aren’t just looking for a new head coach, they need to hire a new general manager as well after letting Dave Ziegler go alongside McDaniels.
So it will ultimately depend on what direction the team wants to go with at GM before they can make a decision at head coach, considering it would be odd for Davis to hire someone who doesn’t want to work with Pierce.
Pierce will undoubtedly get a look by the team to become the head coach, but he may have some competition with a bevy of solid candidates out there as well.
The post J.J. Watt Has A Clear Choice For Raiders HC appeared first on The Cold Wire.