When the Las Vegas Raiders begin their 2024 season, Marvin Lewis will make his NFL coaching comeback. The longstanding former Cincinnati Bengals head coach claimed on Wednesday that the motive for his comeback was merely to help head coach Antonio Pierce.
“I think just the opportunity to assist AP,” Lewis, the Raiders’ associate head coach, said Wednesday when asked what drew him to the position. “From the time I first met him and had the opportunity to coach him, and then the opportunity to kind of reunite again later on at Arizona State—so I was in a similar role with him there as well, being in support of him—I’ve been impressed with him all the time. Back to 2002 with the now-Commanders, I suppose. So there’s simply this potential.”
Lewis was the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator from 1996 to 2001, leading an all-time great 2000 defense that helped the organization win Super Bowl XXXV. Following his time with the Ravens, he spent one season as Washington’s defensive coordinator in 2002 before joining the Bengals as their head coach. In the 2002 season, Lewis coached Pierce, who was 24 years old. Pierce’s finest playing seasons were still ahead of him, but he left an effect on Lewis.
“I knew he was a driven player,” Lewis added.
Lewis has not coached in the NFL since 2018, his last year with the Bengals after a 16-season career that included a 131-122-3 record and seven postseason appearances. In the following autumns, Lewis was a member of an Arizona State staff that included Pierce from 2018 to 2021.
Pierce was appointed as the Raiders’ linebackers coach in 2022, became interim head coach in 2023 when Josh McDaniels was fired, and was eventually promoted to full-time head coach. Pierce called on former head coaches Lewis, Tom Coughlin, and Adam Gase during his tenure in 2023.
“He’s not stuck on himself, that way,” Lewis remarked. “He wants to hear other people’s points of view in that manner. That is fantastic, but he also has a terrific leadership style. He takes responsibility for delivering and reinforcing instructions daily.”
Lewis studied Bill Cowher, Brian Billick, and Steve Spurrier as he advanced through the coaching levels. He hopes to offer Pierce a similar mentoring experience.
“I think those were helpful to me when I got the opportunity to become a head coach,” Lewis said, “and hopefully I can help benefit AP, as well, that way.”
Lewis lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, so the relative proximity to Las Vegas helped make the choice easy. Overall, he didn’t actively seek it out.
“It came pretty organically,” he remarked. “I’m thrilled about it. I’ve had a few other folks ask about my interest in creating something similar.”
Similarly, Lewis was 45 years old during his first year as Bengals head coach, and Pierce will be 46 for his first full-time NFL season in 2024. Both are defensive-minded coaches, and Lewis hopes to provide the same kind of instruction he got in the early stages of his NFL coaching career.
Aside from that, he did not go into too much information about his role as an assistant head coach.
“I’m here to support [the coaches] in anything I can do that way, as well as the squad, the players,” Lewis said. “That’s significant to me. I do my best to put things in perspective for them.”
Pierce’s leadership ushers in a new era for the Silver and Black. Pierce has just two seasons of NFL coaching experience, but he can rely on Lewis and his almost three decades of expertise.
