Every coaching cycle for the Atlanta Falcons throws in a handful of surprises, and this certainly qualifies. The Falcons will reportedly interview ex-Raiders head coach and current CBS analyst Antonio Pierce for their head coaching vacancy.
The news comes from NFL insider Mike Garafolo, who said the interview will come later this week.
Pierce also interviewed with the Giants, and may well be leaping from the booth to a coaching staff even if he doesn’t land a head coaching gig this offseason. The longtime linebacker entered the coaching ranks as a high school head coach in 2014, jumping into the college ranks as a linebackers coach and then associate head coach at Arizona State from 2018-2021 before Josh McDaniels hired him as the Raiders linebackers coach in 2022. He took over as the interim head coach when McDaniels was inevitably fired in 2023 and led the Raiders to some incredible victories, including a 63-21 beatdown of the Chargers, and was named the full-time head coach in 2024. He was fired after going 4-13, a campaign that looks a lot better after the Pete Carroll-led Raiders were even worse in 2025.
While Pierce seemed well-regarded by many players and did a nice job in difficult circumstances in 2023, it’s the fact that he’s been Ryan’s coworker that would give him a real chance at this job, given that Ryan presumably knows and likes him and would be comfortable with his limited work as a head coach. Pierce would be the hire if the Falcons felt he could take the team as built and turn it around with his energy and philosophy. It’s fair to say that does seem like a long shot with extremely experienced candidates like John Harbaugh in the mix and offensive-minded head coaches like Kevin Stefanski and Mike McDaniel coming available, given the team’s needs, but they’ve been scouring available defensive-minded options who have a history of either building great defenses or leading NFL teams. We’ll see if Pierce can nail his interview and get himself in the mix for the job soon enough.
