HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Antonio Pierce was nearing the end of his NFL playing career 16 years ago when he had the chance to intern for Howard Stern's wildly popular and often irreverent radio show.
Pierce enjoyed his time there so much, he initially pursued a post-football career in media.
“Putting on makeup and looking at a camera for eight years is pretty cool,” he said. “But I missed being in that locker room. I missed competing. I missed that fire burning in my stomach.”
So he returned to his first love, getting back into football through coaching.
Pierce began at the high school level and then worked his way up to this week, when he gets his first game as the Raiders' full-time head coach. Las Vegas opens its season Sunday at the Los Angeles Chargers.
His decision to enter coaching isn't all that common for former NFL players. He is one of eight former players — not counting Denver's Sean Payton, who suited up for three games as a replacement player during the 1987 strike — who are current head coaches, a fairly high number by historical standards.
“Coaching is very, very tough,” said Joe Horrigan, former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “You have to be totally dedicated. Your time is living in the coaches' rooms. When you’re wealthy, you might find being in a broadcast booth a lot easier than trying to spend your waking hours in a profession (in which) that’s what’s demanded of you.”
That's especially true for elite players. Of the current head coaches, only four made the Pro Bowl, including Pierce. Among those four, only the Patriots' Jerod Mayo and the Texans' DeMeco Ryans received Associated Press All-Pro honors. Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh was fourth in the AP MVP voting in 1995.
Most coaches historically don't have such a robust athletic resume.
Of the top 20 winningest coaches in the Super Bowl era, only Tom Landry and Dan Reeves were All-Pros. Among the 14 coaches who have won multiple Super Bowls, only Landry with two was chosen All-Pro — in 1954.
Excepting Payton, the top seven coaches in wins since 2010 did not play in the league, instead working their way up to the pros.
“There’s only so many slots open every year in the NFL and there’s a lot of qualified coaches,” Horrigan said. “So the NFL can be picky in who they hire, but also the candidates have to be able to demonstrate that they can coach. It’s kind of a shared route of going through the collegiate ranks.
“It's kind of like a minor league system for coaches. The transition from player to coach is a tough one and it's not for everyone.”
Whether going directly into an NFL coaching staff or starting in college (or lower), former players had notable success last season.
Ryans took over a Texans team that went 3-13-1 the year before and led Houston to the playoffs. Todd Bowles with the Buccaneers and Dan Campbell with the Lions also made the postseason. All three won at least one playoff game, with Campbell taking Detroit to the NFC championship game.
The year before, Kevin O'Connell took the Vikings to the playoffs with a 13-4 record.
O'Connell said his experience as a quarterback helped him bring along rookie QB J.J. McCarthy before he injured his right knee in preseason, calling that “the former quarterback in me.”
Back in the NFL is another ex-quarterback in Harbaugh, who coached San Francisco to a Super Bowl appearance 12 years ago. He spent the previous nine years at his alma mater, Michigan, and last season coached the Wolverines to the national championship.
Now he's trying to take a Chargers franchise with a history of underachieving to similar heights.
“He just has that really unique sense of understanding what’s good for the team," Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said. “But also he’s been in their shoes. They respect the fact that he’s been in their shoes. He respects that they’re going through what he went through.”
Harbaugh's team faces the Raiders this weekend.
Las Vegas cornerback Jack Jones has played for Pierce at Long Beach (California) Poly High School, Arizona State and now the Raiders.
“A guy that’s never played in between the white lines and he’s trying to tell you how to make a tackle, how to do anything ... it’s just harder to feel that, to understand," Jones said. "When you’re getting it from a former player, it’s almost like no question, like he did this before, so I don’t even have to question it.”
Pierce thought back to that 2008 internship with Stern and the opportunities the show gave him in front of and behind the camera. He wasn't ready, however, to divulge what happened behind the scenes with the self-professed “king of all media.”
“We've got to have a happy hour,” Pierce said.
Pierce had a sobering moment when he was named the Raiders' interim coach at midseason last year. He went 5-4, got the job on a full-time basis and now is preparing for his first season opener in charge.
“I’m approaching the exact same way,” Pierce said. “When I got the interim, I wasn’t trying to give it up. So, in my head, I was permanent.”
This story has been corrected. A previous version reported erroneously that Bill Walsh had been an All-Pro as a player. Walsh never played in the NFL.
AP Sports Writers Dave Campbell and Joe Reedy contributed to this report.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell signals during the second half of an NFL preseason football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo watches from the sideline during the first half of a preseason NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans watches from the sideline during the first half of a preseason NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Jason Myers hit a 31-yard field goal in overtime to lift the Seattle Seahawks to a 23-20 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.
The game-winner capped a three-for-three day for Myers, who ensured the game went into OT with a 38-yard field goal with less than a minute left in regulation. Myers also hit from 44 yards in the second quarter.
“Just sticking to my routine. That’s my goal on every kick, whether it’s the first kick of the game or the game winner. It’s about trying to stay the same,” Myers said. “Coming across the East Coast is never easy for anybody but grinding it out and getting a ‘W’ in the NFL is hard.”
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith led Seattle on an eight-play, 71-yard drive to the New England 13 to set up the winning score. Smith was 33 of 44 for 327 yards on the day, with a 56-yard touchdown to DK Metcalf in the first half.
“He put the team on his back,” Metcalf said of Smith, a two-time Pro Bowl selection.
Metcalf finished with 10 catches for 129 yards.
The Seahawks (2-0) also got a 100-yard receiving game from Jaxon Smith-Njigba (12 catches for 117 yards).
“I want to see the run game lead us just as much as I want to go out there and throw a bunch of touchdowns. However we can get a win, whatever we’ve got to do, I’m just reading the defense and trying to make the right plays,” Smith said.
New England (1-1) won the coin toss heading into overtime but went three-and-out, with Rhamondre Stevenson getting stopped on third and 1.
Playing in their home opener under first-year head coach Jerod Mayo, the Patriots got 81 rushing yards and one touchdown from Stevenson and 96 rushing yards from Antonio Gibson. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett was 15-for-27 for 149 yards and one touchdown to rookie Ja’Lynn Polk.
The Seahawks kept their hopes for a win alive late in the game after Julian Love blocked a 48-yard field goal attempt that would have put the Patriots up by six with 3:59 left in regulation.
“Just heck of a play, but it’s something you practice all the time, and finally when you have the opportunity, it goes and executes it. That was big-time,” said Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald.
Smith subsequently found Metcalf for a pair of completions that got the Seahawks into the red zone. But New England got a stop on third and 1 on the 15-yard line. Seattle was flagged for a delay of game on fourth down and ultimately settled for the game-tying 38-yard field goal by Myers with 55 seconds remaining.
The Patriots marked the 10-year anniversary of their victory over Seattle in the 2015 Super Bowl by welcoming back former players for a halftime celebration. Before the game, Malcolm Butler served as the Keeper of the Light, ringing the bell where the stadium’s lighthouse feature is positioned. Butler sealed New England’s 28-24 Super Bowl win over the Seahawks with a goal line interception with less than a minute remaining.
Though they weren’t present, former players Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Devin McCourty sent video messages. Bill Belichick posted a message to his personal Instagram account, saying, “We all shared a magical ride together.”
Seahawks: LB Derick Hall was evaluated for a concussion but was cleared to return before the start of the second half.
Patriots: LB Ja’Whaun Bentley was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury. … LB Oshane Ximines did not return after suffering a knee injury.
Seahawks: Host Miami on Sunday.
Patriots: Visit New York Jets on Thursday night.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) is brought down by Seattle Seahawks linebacker Boye Mafe, center, in the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo adjusts his microphone in the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez, left, blocks a pass intended for Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf, right, in the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett, left, and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, greet one another in the center of the field following an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson, left, celebrates his touchdown in front of guard Nick Leverett, right, in the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots running back Antonio Gibson, right, is brought down by Seattle Seahawks safety Rayshawn Jenkins, left, in the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) celebrates with running back Zach Charbonnet (26) after Charbonnet rushed for a touchdown in the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) celebrates after running back Zach Charbonnet rushed for a touchdown in the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Seattle Seahawks place-kicker Jason Myers, center, boots the winning field goal in front of punter Michael Dickson, left, as New England Patriots safety Brenden Schooler, right, defends in overtime of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Seattle Seahawks place-kicker Jason Myers, center, celebrates with punter Michael Dickson, left, after Myers made the winning field goal in overtime of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
