A massive scandal has engulfed Antonio Pierce, the newly appointed head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. The coach finds himself squarely in the crosshairs of an explosive NCAA investigation stemming from his tenure at Arizona State University. Dropping the first bombshell, Bill Williamson retweeted Chris Karpman’s earth-shattering report of ASU’s unruly recruiting tactics: “#Raiders coach Antonio Pierce was reportedly involved in this and he reportedly resigned from ASU in wake of it two years ago.”

The allegations paint a picture of Pierce and former ASU head coach Herm Edwards hosting recruits during the COVID-19 “dead period” in clear violation of NCAA rules. While Pierce dodged a full-on blitz by resigning from ASU in 2021, he was far from being out of the woods. Despite now joining the pro ranks, the NCAA still has him squarely in their crosshairs and could potentially slap him with a harsh “show-cause” penalty as per reports that would raise major red flags for any colleges looking to hire him down the road.

The new head honcho in Vegas can only hope this dark cloud doesn’t morph into a full-blown thunderstorm disrupting his fresh start. Because in the NFL, distractions like this can quickly derail even the most promising of seasons before they ever get off the ground.

Will the Antonio Pierce saga cast a shadow over ASU’s gridiron dreams?

The NCAA’s penalties against Arizona State feel like a brutal sack on the program’s championship aspirations. A staggering 10 wins from 2021 and 2022 got vaporized due to shady recruiting tactics during the COVID-19 dead period. Chris Karpman’s bombshell tweet exposed how ASU coached by Herm Edwards and Antonio Pierce hosted recruits illicitly: “BREAKING: ASU must vacate all eight of its 2021 football wins and two 2022 wins for a total of 10 vacated wins due to the participation of players who were impermissibly recruited, per sources.”

It’s a low blow with ASU stumbling out of the locker room. The self-imposed bowl ban for 2023 was just an appetizer – the main course is four years of probation, fines, scholarship reductions, and recruiting restrictions. That’s a crippling set of penalties that could set the program back for years.

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As ASU President Michael Crow stated in an issued statement in response, “The COVID dead period rules were created not only for the sake of competitive equity but for the safety and well-being of prospective and enrolled student-athletes and their families.

While the university expressed embarrassment at the “actions of certain former football staff members who took advantage of a global pandemic to hide their behavior”, the damage might be already done. ASU is now boxed into a corner, forced to run the gauntlet of sanctions that could hamstring its ability to contend in the Pac-12 for the foreseeable future.