The Las Vegas Raiders made a great move when they removed the interim tag from Antonio Pierce, making him the full-time head coach. It was a move that the players were pushing for an many analysts thought was the right thing to do.
When discussing the rest of the Raiders’ coaching staff, one thing was clear; Pierce needed to hit a home run when it came to his offensive coordinator. While the defense thrived with him as the head man, the offense hit more than a few snags during the 2023 season.
Getting everything on track and taking over as an interim head coach in the middle of the season obviously wasn’t going to happen. But if the Raiders are going to find success in 2024 and beyond, their offense needs to get back on track.
The man Pierce will be relying on to do that will reportedly be former Arizona Cardinals head coach, Kliff Kingsbury. According to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN, Las Vegas is expected to hire Kingsbury as their next offensive coordinator.
NFL News & Rumors: Kliff Kingsbury, Antonio Pierce, Las Vegas Raiders Updates
He was one of four people who interviewed for the job along with Luke Getsy, most recently the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator, Alex Van Pelt and Mike Sullivan. Kingsbury has a track record as a successful offensive coach and will be looking to bring his Air Raid offense to Las Vegas.
During his tenure with the Cardinals, they averaged 23.6 points per game, right around the average of 24 points Pierce half-jokingly said he wants his team to be at next season. The biggest question for Kingsbury will be who runs his offense in 2024.
Veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who was handpicked by former head coach Josh McDaniels to be the starter in 2023, is likely on the outs. He was benched for rookie Aidan O’Connell once Pierce took over as head coach.
O’Connell will remain on the roster but will likely face competition for the starting job, whether it is from a draft pick or a free agent. Slated to pick at No. 13 in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Raiders will have to get aggressive if they want to land one of the top quarterbacks in this year’s class.
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