Colorado's Deion Sanders Praises Antonio Pierce for Getting Raiders HC Job

Antonio Pierce, the interim coach who led the Las Vegas Raiders to finish 2023 with a 5-4 record, isn't the only one excited to hear the news that he will be the team's next head coach.

University of Colorado Boulder head football coach Deion Sanders celebrated Friday night on social media.

"God is good," Sanders wrote. "All he needed was opportunity."

Pierce was in his second season as the Raiders' linebacker coach when he took over the Raiders on an interim basis following Josh McDaniels' Oct. 31 firing.

McDaniels was hired as Raiders head coach in 2022 after owner Mark Davis decided to go with a new hire rather than retain Rich Bisaccia, who was then serving as the Raiders' interim head coach.

The Raiders broke that pattern by announcing Pierce as their next head coach Friday night.

Pierce now joins Mike Mularkey of the Tennessee Titans and Doug Marrone of the Jacksonville Jaguars as the third NFL coach in the past decade to go directly from interim to full-time coaching.

Sanders wasn't the only member of the NFL community to congratulate Pierce on his accomplishment. Former NFL defensive end Justin Tuck and former quarterback Robert Griffin III also celebrated the news.