Raider Nation's chant: "AP!, AP!, AP!"

As the final minute of the Las Vegas Raiders' season ticked away, fans at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas began chanting, “AP!, AP!, AP!. . . “

They were voicing votes for Antonio Pierce to be upgraded from interim to full-fledged head coach of the Raiders as the team closed out the season with a 27-14 win over AFC West rival Denver. The team finished with an 8-9 record. Pierce was named interim head coach on Halloween, when owner Mark Davis fired coach Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler.

Pierce took over a 3-5 team and was 5-4, as the Raiders were in every game and were especially efficient on defense.

Raiders fans are not the only ones calling for Pierce to stay. Raiders players, many of whom were ready to revolt against McDaniels, are also very vocal about wanting to keep their current coach. So are former Raiders stars Jim Plunkett, Howie Long, Marcus Allen, Charles Woodson, Ted Hendricks and more.

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Although Davis has not revealed his decision, he has heard the chants and, more importantly, he has seen a renewed team.

"Yeah, I think the team really played well down the stretch, and I think going 4-2 in the division is really a positive for us," Davis said. "Obviously, that's what we have to take care of first is the division. And we went into Kansas City, in a tough game, and beat them [20-14 on Christmas Day], and we took care of Denver here at home to end the season."

With that 8-9 record, the Raiders finished second in the AFC West, two games better than last season, after splitting with the division-champion Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers and sweeping the Broncos. Pierce went 3-1 in the division, and the Raiders were in every game they played, finishing with impressive wins against the New York Giants (30-6), Chargers (63-21), Chiefs (20-14) and Broncos (27-14), although quizzical losses to the Minnesota Vikings (3-0) and Indianapolis Colts (23-20) kept them out of the playoffs for the 19th time in 21 seasons.

When Davis first elevated Pierce from linebackers coach to interim coach following the Halloween night firing of Josh McDaniels, he told ESPN he did not want Pierce to necessarily "coach," so much as "lead" and "delegate."

Asked by ESPN’s Paul Guiterrez Sunday whether Pierce did that, Davis said, "There's no question about it. You tell me."

Told there was a certain vintage Los Angeles Raiders feeling in the postgame locker room Sunday, given Pierce's affinity for the team when it played there, and the fact he grew up “Straight outta Compton,” Davis nodded.

"Raiders days," he said.

"They really seemed to respond to him," Plunkett said of the players and Pierce, "Which is a good thing."

"Whatever he said when he came in, the guys picked up on it. Immediately,"  Woodson added. "It feels good, man. It feels familiar. It feels like old-school Raiders, when I was here and Darrell Russell and Grady Jackson and James Trapp and the guys that I came into the NFL with, man.“

“Antonio has captured the hearts and minds of the players in that locker room,” said ex-Raider and NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long. “And that’s half the battle.”

Current Raiders stars Maxx Crosby, Davante Adam and Kolton Miller were among the most vocal in calling for Pierce to become head coach.

Crosby, a three-time Pro Bowler who had a sack Sunday to finish the season with a career-high 14.5, noticed the veteran Raider VIPs in the locker room as well, and credited Pierce for their presence.

"It's legendary," Crosby said. "When you have the right culture, a guy like AP that embraces the history of the Raiders, it's special...A ton of legends [visit] consistently because of the amount of respect they have for him. So, it makes you, as a player, want to go out there and show who you are. You know what I mean? You want to be at that level one day.

"For me, that's what I've talked about many times — I'm going to be a gold jacket guy. For me, every single time I step out on the field, it's in the back of my head — I want to be the best, baddest dude on the field. At all times. So when you have dudes like that walking around the building every single day, you love it and that's what you want."

“It’s obviously who I want, that’s my vote,” said Adams, who was less than thrilled earlier this season with McDaniel at head coach. “I’ve been vocal about that. It’s basically how the whole locker room feels and with good reason.” .

“What AP did was able to bring everyone together and really build a trust between one another,” said Miller. “It didn’t matter who went down. We had playmakers, we were able to feed off one another.” And the Raiders are in no mood to blow that up. “I think being able to keep what we have now and build off it this next offseason will be huge.”

Woodson noted the crowd’s chant and said Pierce “revived Raider Nation” as well as the players on the roster.

"He coaches the way he played linebacker,” Woodson said “You've got to be somewhat tough anyway, but he played for tough teams, played for a championship team. He understands Raider football, he understands that toughness that has always been preached around here, and the day he took over, you noticed it immediately. That next game, it was visible to all."

Before being named interim coach, Pierce's lone head-coaching experience was at the high school level, at California power Long Beach Poly from 2014 to 2017. Since then, he worked as an assistant at Arizona State and joined McDaniels' staff in 2022.

Pierce was asked about his vision of the future if he is named head coach.

"You just keep growing, I mean, you talk about culture, you talk about foundation, you talk about your DNA, talk about what you want it to look like, your structure, your coaches, your players, having your identity," he said. "To me, our players and our coaches will be a reflection of me, and I'll go forward as we move into this bad boy. But there's a lot of things that I can still grow from.

"This is a great experience, great kickstart. I think we do have a solid foundation that we've built so far, but there's more to go and, no excuse, but it is difficult to do in the middle of the season and to get guys to buy in and really believe that that's how you're going to win and that's the way to win. [If] we have time to do presentations, put that in OTAs, minicamps, training camp, get that bonding, that chemistry together, I think it'll be a pretty thing to watch."

Davis may be more willing to listen to the pleas for Pierce in the wake of his previous coach hiring after Jon Gruden was forced out under pressure from the league regarding contents of an email. Davis upgraded assistant Rich Bisaccia, who also became the preferred choice of the players. But Davis did not seem to consider Bisaccia and hired McDaniels.

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh's name has been mentioned for several NFL teams. Davis was asked if Harbaugh is a consideration.

"I have to go through the process of interviews, setting up interviews and then letting you know what we're doing," Davis said in an executive sidestep.

Davis has mentioned creating a different hierarchy, with somebody above the general manager. Not necessarily a total football guy, but such a person would be a plus. These were vague thoughts in the week after firing McDaniels.

So, Mark, when should be expect an announcement? Have you made up your mind?

"Nope! Probably before next season," Davis said feigning innocence with a chuckle.

Some quotes in this article were from wire services and ESPN Raider reporter Paul Gutierrez