Antonio Pierce is viewed as the favorite to be named head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, but he appears to have other options.
The Atlanta Falcons have requested permission to interview Pierce for their vacant head coach job, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.
It is unclear if Pierce will take the interview, but he did meet with another AFC team on Saturday.
Pierce went 5-4 as interim head coach of the Raiders after Josh McDaniels was fired. Some of the team’s biggest stars have said they want the 45-year-old to stick around as full-time head coach. One star player has even reportedly threatened to demand a trade if Pierce does not return.
Raiders owner Al Davis faced a similar situation two years ago when Rich Bisaccia enjoyed success as interim head coach following Jon Gruden’s ousting. A lot of people felt Bisaccia should have been hired as permanent head coach after he led Las Vegas to the playoffs, but Davis went with McDaniels instead. That decision obviously did not work out.
At the very least, Davis appears to be looking around at other options. If he does not hire Pierce, there are going to be a lot of unhappy players in Las Vegas.
