The Giants are bringing in franchise royalty for a shot at being the savior in tough times.
Antonio Pierce, a captain for the 2007 Super Bowl champions, will dine tonight with Giants brass and then formally interview Friday for the head coach vacancy, according to an ESPN report.
Pierce was out of the NFL this season and hanging around East Rutherford often after he was fired as Raiders head coach.
Combined with former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris’ in-person interview today, as reported by The Athletic, the Giants will have fulfilled the Rooney Rule requirement to conduct two in-person interviews with external minority candidates. That means they are free to make a hire after Friday.
The Giants, who are part of a lawsuit by Brian Flores accusing NFL teams of conducting sham interviews with minorities, also interviewed interim head coach Mike Kafka (Puerto Rican descent) in person and Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph by Zoom.
Pierce is an interesting candidate, given his intimate knowledge of the organization from ownership down and his history of speaking his mind. He is not afraid to take an adversarial stance with anyone.
One of the best free-agent signings in team history, the middle linebacker played five seasons (2005-09) for the Giants and was the brain behind the idea for the Giants to wear all-black to their “funeral” against the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl 42. Of course, the Giants pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NFL history that game.
Pierce took over as the Raiders’ interim head coach for the fired Josh McDaniels in 2023 and beat the Giants in his first game.
He went 5-4 over a nine-game span to earn the promotion to full-time, but he was fired after just one season (4-13).
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
