Antonio Pierce made his departure known today.
The head coach of the Raiders,Antonio Pierce, announced his resignation
made soon after the New York Times published a story alleging that Gruden had sent numerous offensive emails while he was an ESPN analyst.
In a statement that the Raiders posted, Gruden said, “I have resigned as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.” “I don’t want to be a distraction since I adore the Raiders.” We are grateful to all of the Raider Nation players, coaches, employees, and supporters. I apologize; I didn’t mean to cause harm to anyone.
The team’s owner, Mark Davis, announced on Twitter that he has accepted Gruden’s resignation. The Raiders announced that Rich Bisaccia, their special teams coordinator and assistant head coach, will temporarily assume head coaching responsibilities. Throughout Gruden’s second stint with the Raiders, Bisaccia has been a member of the coaching staff, having previously worked with him in Tampa Bay. When Gruden resigned, he was four years into a ten-year contract with the franchise.
Gruden was not the subject of the league officials’ workplace misconduct inquiry, according to the New York Times, but they did find emails in which he made disparaging remarks about female referees, homosexual NFL players, and players who demonstrated while the national anthem was playing. The Times requested a response from Gruden, but he did not provide any.
Gruden faced criticism last week after The Wall Street Journal uncovered an email from 2011 in which he disparaged NFL players union director DeMaurice Smith.
Gruden wrote, “Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of Michelin tires,” as reported by the Journal.
During a press conference on Sunday after the game, Gruden expressed regret for his statement.
“I’m not a bigot,” declared Gruden. “I am too sick to express myself to you. I feel good about who I am and what I’ve accomplished in my life, yet I apologize to D. Smith once more. I didn’t want to be racist at all when I made those comments. I’m not like that at all. I’m sorry. I want to stop talking about it.
In 2018, Gruden took over as head coach of the Raiders for the second time; he finished with a 22-31 record. He had previously served as head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1998 to 2001 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2002 to 2008, when he led them to a Super Bowl victory in his first season.
Gruden was an NFL analyst and Monday Night Football announcer for ESPN from 2009 to 2017.
The Raiders, who are 3-2 on the year, will play their rivals in the AFC West, the Denver Broncos, on Sunday.
