In Las Vegas, Nevada, there’s a pressing question stirring among fans: Should Antonio Pierce, the interim head coach and former New York Giants Super Bowl Champion, be promoted to a full-time role? This query stems from a decision that owner Mark Davis did not do in 2021 when he fired Jon Gruden and replaced him with special teams coordinator and player favorite Rich Bisaccia. History offers quite the cautionary tale for interim coaches and their longevity in the National Football League.

On October 31st, a day after losing 26-14 to the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football, Mark Davis once again pulled the plug on his head coach, this time for a different reason – lack of winning on the football field. Josh McDaniels spent 25 games in Vegas before getting axed with a 9-16 record. History repeated for McDaniels who was fired in 2010 with the Denver Broncos, compiling a similar 11-17 record.

2023 Interim Coaches:

When it comes to interim coaches, the NFL has its fair share each season with organizations that are looking to get a head start on a fresh new leadership approach. As of December 1st this season, there are two organizations with interim coaches – The Las Vegas Raiders and the Carolina Panthers. While the Raiders were the first team this football season to call on an interim head coach, the Panthers just recently fired lead man Frank Reich on November 27th. There are currently two interim coaches: Raiders’ Antonio Pierce and Panthers’ Chris Tabor. For these two men, the odds are stacked against them in their quest to secure a full time position as the leader of their organizations, as shown by the data over just a ten-year period.

For a decade, (2013-2023) there has been a slew of interim coaches. Let’s take a look at them and if they were retained.

List of Interim Coaches (Bold = Retained the Following Year) 

2013: Wade Phillips | Houston Texans | 0-3 Record | Not Retained

2014: Tony Sparano | Oakland Raiders | 3-9 Record | Not Retained

2015: Dan Campbell | Miami Dolphins | 5-7 Record | Not Retained

2016: Tennessee Titans | Mike Mularkey | 2-7 Record | Retained 

2016: Jacksonville Jaguars | Doug Marrone | 1-1 Record | Retained  

2017: New York Giants | Steve Spagnuolo | 1-3 Record | Not Retained

2018: Cleveland Browns | Gregg Williams | 5-3 Record | Not Retained

2018: Green Bay Packers | Joe Philbin | 2-2 Record | Not Retained

2019: Washington Commanders (Then Redskins) | Bill Callahan | 3-8 Record | Not Retained

2019: Carolina Panthers | Perry Fewell | 0-4 Record | Not Retained

2020: Atlanta Falcons | Raheem Morris | 4-7 Record | Not Retained

2020: Detroit Lions | Derrell Bevell | 1-4 Record | Not Retained

2020: Houston Texans | Romeo Crennel | 4-8 Record | Not Retained

2021: Las Vegas Raiders | Rich Bisaccia | 7-5 Record | Not Retained

2021: Jacksonville Jaguars | Darrell Bevell | 1-4 Record | Not Retained

2022: Carolina Panthers | Steve Wilks | 6-6 Record | Not Retained

2022: Indianapolis Colts | Jeff Saturday | 1-7 Record | Not Retained

2022: Denver Broncos | Jerry Rosburg | 1-1 Record | Not Retained

2023: Las Vegas Raiders | Antonio Pierce | 2-2 Record Currently | TBD

2023: Carolina Panthers | Chris Tabor | 0-0 Record Currently | TBD

Results:

In the last decade, there were twenty interim coaches in the NFL, and out of those men, only two of them removed the interim tag, both in 2016; Titans’ Mike Mularkey and Jaguars’ Doug Marrone. Both of them had their moments for their respective organizations but are no longer leaders of one of the 32 NFL teams. For Antonio Pierce and Chris Tabor, the data shows both face an uphill battle. Interestingly, there were times where the players preferred the interim coaches and advocated for them but the owners declined and went a different route.

In 2021, Rich Bisaccia led the team to a playoff berth and won seven games, a solid feat considering the turmoil that plagued the program with the departure of Gruden. In 2022, the Panthers did not retain Steve Wilks after he went 6-6 and won key games down the stretch. Wilks was a player favorite in the locker room along with the fans who saw the spark that could have turned around the program. One thing is for certain — both the Raiders and the Panthers are in similar spots again in 2023, will history repeat itself or will both organizations, especially the Raiders change their tune and will owner Mark Davis admit his mistake several years prior? We shall find the answer in the coming months.