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Antonio Pierce may be coaching the Raiders with a serious financial cloud over his head this fall.
Bankruptcy documents filed by his wife, Jocelyn, earlier this month and reported on in several outlets this week show that several creditors have sizable judgments against Pierce.
The creditors—the financial arms of car companies that loaned money to car dealerships that Pierce invested in last decade—have judgments totaling $28 million against Pierce and tried to garnish his Raiders wages last year, according to The Athletic.
In the bankruptcy filing, Jocelyn Pierce wrote that her husband was a “passive investor” in the car dealerships, and that Antonio Pierce unknowingly became a guarantor for loans taken out by the businesses. When the businesses collapsed, the lenders—Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation and Hyundai Capital America—attempted to garnish Pierce’s wages.
After a nine-year playing career with Washington and the Giants, Pierce was a defensive assistant with Arizona State before getting hired as Raiders linebackers coach in 2022. He took over as interim Raiders head coach when Josh McDaniels was fired last October and quickly became a player favorite, galvanizing a struggling team to a 5–4 finish. When the permanent job was open this offseason, Las Vegas players pushed hard for Pierce as coach, with star Maxx Crosby even demanding a trade if Pierce wasn’t hired.
Owner Mark Davis eventually hired Pierce as permanent head coach in mid-January. It’s not clear what Pierce is getting paid as Raiders coach, but he may need every penny.
There is little transparency on pay—and no salary cap—in NFL coaching, but the very top coaches are thought to make north of $10 million annually. Pierce may command less than that as a first-time NFL head coach.
