Jayden Daniels thanked Raiders interim HC Antonio Pierce in his acceptance speech after winning the Heisman Trophy

Antonio Pierce worked as a defensive assistant at the Arizona Cardinals.

Jayden Daniels thanked Raiders interim HC Antonio Pierce in his acceptance speech after winning the Heisman Trophy

Jayden Daniels and Antonio Pierce (via CNN and Dothan Eagle)

The Louisiana State University (LSU) quarterback Jayden Daniels has already created a lot of history in this year’s college football. He became the first footballer to register 372 yards of passing and 234 yards of rushing yards in a single game. He completed his game against Florida with 606 total yards. The QB finished his entire season with 3,812 yards of passing and 1,134 yards of rushing. He registered 40 touchdowns against just four interceptions. With all these stats, he became one of the top favourites for the Heisman Trophy Award.

And yes, he made it. The 22-year-old won the Heisman Trophy leaving the other contenders behind. Behind his historic success, he gave flowers to his family, friends and head coaches.

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Something significant also took place during the award ceremony. The young QB thanked Antonio Pierce, the interim head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. In addition to his present coaches, he mentioned the name of the interim coach of the Raiders.

The young quarterback said during his trophy acceptance speech:

To Herm Edwards, Marvin Lewis, and Antonio Pierce, thank you for your leadership and for entrusting me with the keys to the ASU program.
Jayden Daniels during his trophy acceptance speech

The special mention of Antonio Pierce’s name left everyone in awe. The enthusiasts quickly started establishing a link between the two.

What is the relationship between Antonio Pierce and Jayden Daniels?

Jayden Daniels started his college football career with Arizona State University (ASU). He later joined LSU in 2022. This was his second season with LSU and he created history. However, during his time at the ASU, he was closely connected with Antonio Pierce. Pierce was working in Arizona as the defensive assistant and Daniels was a quarterback in the team. Daniels had the good fortune to get the guidance of the coach there. The guidance helped him to shape his career.

Pierce is now handling a turbulent Raiders team. He rose to the ranks of the interim head coach after the team sacked the head coach Josh McDaniels following his horrible performance as the HC. In two years, McDaniels was able to secure 9 wins.

Antonio Pierce
Antonio Pierce (Sports Illustrated)

Pierce had a good start as the interim head coach. However, the Raiders lost a few games later.

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