Late into the Raiders’ Week 15 demolition of the Chargers that eventually resulted in a 63–21 victory, Amazon Prime NFL analyst Richard Sherman posted an intriguing anecdote to social media regarding Las Vegas coach Antonio Pierce.
This wasn’t the first major blowout that Pierce took part in as a head coach. In 2014, Pierce coached Long Beach Poly High School to a 99–9 victory over Compton. So he probably wouldn’t let up as the Raiders piled up points on the Chargers’ embattled defense.
That note from Pierce’s coaching past made the rounds on social media as the Raiders’ Thursday night victory reached a merciful end. During his postgame press conference, the coach was asked if this current blowout reminded him of that October 2014 game.
Pierce smiled at the recollection. However, the Raiders getting shut out in their previous game was more prominent in his memory. So he wanted his offense to keep applying pressure.
Antonio Pierce coached a team that won 99-9 in a HS game so don’t expect him to stop trying to score.
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) December 15, 2023
“Listen, we just scored zero. I ain’t gonna stop the boys from scoring,” Pierce said. “We were on the other side of it last week and it felt a certain way. No apologies here. Sorry.”
Thursday night wasn’t the first time Pierce’s 99–9 blowout was mentioned this season. During his Week 9 debut as interim head coach, the Raiders had a 27–0 halftime lead over the Giants. Fox reporter Laura Okmin used the opportunity to reference the Long Beach Poly blowout, in which the Jackrabbits led 63–9 at the half.
“Pierce didn’t like how the team looked. Instead of going into the locker room. He took them behind the field and they ran for 20 minutes.,” Okmin told viewers. “Gassers.”
Compared to that 2014 contest, both the Chargers and the Raiders may have gotten off easy.
