Brad Cesmat
“Just win, Baby”
It is only appropriate that Antonio Pierce was named the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders on Friday, but the angst and anger directed toward the former ASU assistant football coach from many of the loyal Sun Devil football fan base is misguided.
Here are the opening lines in the 2020 bio of Pierce written and published by Arizona State University. “One of the rising stars in the coaching ranks, Antonio Pierce was promoted to Associate Head Coach/Co-Defensive Coordinator in February 2020. Pierce, who also coaches the Sun Devil linebackers and serves as the program’s recruiting coordinator, joined Herm Edwards’ ASU coaching staff in December 2017.” If you want to read the entire profile, go for it. https://thesundevils.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/antonio-pierce/4264
So, why should I blame Pierce for nonsense and shenanigans while he was on staff in Tempe? It wasn’t his fault that those who oversaw the football program from an administrative level were asleep at the switch, looked the other way, or simply didn’t care what Pierce and others were doing with recruiting in and out of the building while he was employed.
Bowl ban, loss of scholarships, self-sanctioning, an incomplete NCAA investigation may still result in more penalties, assistant coaches getting tossed overboard, and the fan base left disenchanted.
All the new Raiders head coach did was quit (on signing day 2022) and move on to the NFL without repercussions. Get out of college and on to the pros where the rules of “Just Win, Baby” apply. Heck, the President of the university and the AD at the time of the nonsense stood under the goalposts at the end of games for the fan base to see, even after Pierce left. The athletic director has since moved on to teaching on the Arizona State campus AND getting paid his full salary.
The man who hired Pierce is on ESPN getting a check and talking football. Herm made it clear that “What AP says is what I say.” He skated out of here, too. Amazingly, a big cigar told me this past week that letting Pierce get away was one of the biggest mistakes that ASU has ever made. I can only shake my head…
Just win, Baby…
This and that…
With Pierce now in charge of the Raiders, it should be no surprise that Las Vegas has been linked to trading up in the April Draft to select Heisman Trophy-winning QB Jayden Daniels. It could be good news for the Cardinals drafting Ohio State WR Marvin Harrision Jr…
I was in a sports bar last week with guys wearing their team jerseys, but winning the game didn’t seem as important when it came down to winning their bets on the game’s over/under and total. It is interesting to see how the impact of legalized gambling on betting apps has taken “fans” in a different direction. Money can do that…
Question: What would daytime network sports talk show hosts do without the Dallas Cowboys’ incompetence?
Answer: They would still puke all over their shoes about the Cowboys for segment after segment. It’s like yelling into an uncovered sewer manhole…
Chopped it up with legendary sports personality Christopher “Mad Dog Russo” on Thursday’s show. His son is an assistant basketball coach at Northern Arizona University under head coach Shane Burcar. Could “Doggie” be courtside in Flagstaff at an upcoming Lumberjack game?…
At what point does Devin Booker wonder, “Am I ever going to get the national respect of All-Star voting by playing in Phoenix?”…
There’s too much commentary on TV and radio game broadcasts about referees. BTW this isn’t breaking news…
With USC and UCLA basketball no longer coming to Arizona each winter for four days, BYU/Utah should be able to replace or even increase attendance in Tempe and Tucson with the Bruins and Trojans departing. I’ve got to believe that the four schools should make schedules in November and December with each other on a somewhat regular basis…
Perry High School basketball star Koa Peat has Arizona and Arizona State on his final list of college choices. If you haven’t seen Peat play, do yourself a favor and grab a Perry game before he’s gone…
