The Las Vegas Raiders had a terrible season with a 3-14 record and it’s not a surprise that the franchise wants to hire new staff, players, and whatnot. But how things have worked this week for the Raiders and their former head coach Antonio Pierce has invited a heavy backlash. God knows what happened in the franchise headquarters that made the owner Mark Davis take that type of step which is being criticized.

The Raiders fired Antonio Pierce. Well, that was expected. But the way Mark Davis let him go was nothing short of a cruel thing. NFL reporter Judy Battista has taken a firm stand and condemned Mark Davis using heavy words, saying, “Well, to run him out to do the season post mortem yesterday not having told Antonio Pierce anything about his own future, let him go out there and then fire him 24 hours later is just poor disrespectful.” She was on the panel on Tom Pelissero’s show.

She’s right. Pierce had no clue about his firing when he went to take a press conference on Monday. And on Tuesday he was out. That’s not what any coach deserves.

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The senior reporter continued her take, mentioning a different reason for Pierce’s firing. She said, “The quick hooks we have seen for two black head coaches so far in the cycle. And black general managers have raised some red flags among those who work on improving opportunities for diverse candidates in the NFL.” She didn’t shy away from pointing out one of the important comments on diversity by one of the greatest voices in the NFL.

Pierce’s firing and Rod Graves’ bold comment on diversity in the NFL

While talking on the panel, Judy also mentioned Rod Graves, the former GM of the Arizona Cardinals, who shared his thoughts often on the diversity in the NFL. Graves addressed the same issue in 2021. Graves had then said, “There are many outstanding Black men and other men and women of color in the NFL. The pipeline is as strong as it has ever been. The issue is not in the sufficiency of numbers.” That was so true.

The former VP in the New York Jets administration then remarked, “The problem is in the limited number of leadership opportunities given. The disparity in opportunities is mind-boggling.” This has been a long-term issue. Well, Pierce’s record in the 2024 season was a forgetful one. He lost 13 games out of 17. But no one can deny that he pushed the team better when he was made interim coach in week 8 of the 2023 season. He had a 5-4 record that season.

They fired Antonio Pierce, who had only been the Raiders’ full-time head coach for one year. Reporters like Battista will bring the issue up. But let’s see how far this talk can go and whether it will change the NFL.