Marvin Lewis leapt back into the NFL for chance to coach with Antonio Pierce

By Case Keefer (contact)

Sunday, June 2, 2024 | 2 a.m.

No one has been alongside Antonio Pierce for more different parts of the Raiders coach’s professional football career than Marvin Lewis.

Lewis took over as Washington’s defensive coordinator in 2002 going into Pierce’s second NFL season following the latter’s breakout as an undrafted rookie free agent linebacker out of Arizona. Then in 2019, the pair reunited in the Grand Canyon State when Lewis joined the Arizona State University coaching staff Pierce had already spent a season on.

Lewis described being blown away by Pierce’s dedication and leadership at both spots 20 years apart.

“I think where he’s done a really nice job is understanding the pulse of the football team,” Lewis said. “He did that at ASU when I was with him. He would come to me when when I was supposedly the defensive coordinator and he was the linebacker coach assisting me, he said, 'I think the guys need to run today. The defense needs to run today after practice.' I said, 'Okay, just make sure we don't kill them.’”

Lewis and Pierce eventually served as co-defensive coordinators under Herm Edwards with the Sun Devils, but the former now scoffs at that title. The 65-year-old Lewis was happy to step back and act as more of an advisor because he knew the 45-year-old Pierce was ready to take over.

That’s the same approach the longtime NFL coach Lewis is now taking in an official capacity with the Las Vegas Raiders. Lewis is the second in command in Pierce’s new coaching staff, serving as his longtime pupil’s assistant head coach to break a six-year stint away from the NFL going into next season.

“I define the role as ‘speak when spoken to,’” Lewis said. “I’m here to support him, and anything I can do that way as well as with the players. That’s the thing that’s most important to me, that I try to keep things levelled out for them as much as I can.”

Pierce brought on Lewis as an advisor last season when he took over as the Raiders’ interim coach. The veteran coach, who most notably spent 16 years as the Cincinnati Bengals’ head coach, immediately meshed with the Raiders’ players and executives alike.

When the Raiders’ search for a full-time coach began after the regular season, Pierce and Lewis might as well have been considered a package deal.

Raiders owner Mark Davis and other prominent members of the organization wanted Lewis to stay on if Pierce was hired. A permanent position interested Lewis too, even though he was semi-retired and had established a residence in Scottsdale, Ariz., near his three grandchildren.

Lewis had turned down opportunities to take a similar role with other NFL teams in recent years, but the Raiders represented the right situation for him.

“It didn’t really take any convincing at all really between (Pierce) and Mr. Davis,” Lewis said. “I’m excited for (Pierce), that’s all I can say. When he was going through the (hiring) process after the season, we talked probably every couple days. Then, as he began to put a staff together, he would just check in with me and just tell me how things were going — what he liked, what he disliked.  Anything I could do to help him research coaches, that’s what my role was.”

It's no surprise then that the coaching staff contains as many ties to Lewis as it does to Pierce. Lewis, for instance, coached run game coordinator/linebackers coach Mike Caldwell in 1996 with the Baltimore Ravens.

He had briefly met and mentored defensive line coach Rob Leonard, cornerback coach Ricky Manning Jr. and safeties coach Gerald Alexander. Assistant linebackers coach Marcus Lewis, who spent last year with the short-lived Vegas Vipers in the XFL, is Marvin Lewis’ son.

The coaches who didn’t previously know Marvin Lewis speak just as highly of the chance to learn from him.

“You get the opportunity just to sit back and observe and just watch the way he carries himself and how he's helped out everyone on the coaching staff from AP all the way down,” tight ends coach Luke Steckel said. “His presence in the building is definitely felt. He's another guy whose reputation obviously precedes him. So, when he walks into this building, everyone is kind of watching him and following his example to some extent, and when he opens his mouth to say something, we're all listening.”

Lewis was all over the field during the Raiders’ open practice session as part of organized team activities last Tuesday. He might be giving Pierce and the other coaches space to lead, but his experience makes him uniquely positioned to help players all across the roster.

And his words hold extra weight.  

“If anything, I feel like he’ll be the first guy to say something to correct me, make sure I’m doing everything right — and not just on the field,” cornerback Jack Jones said.

Jones would know as he spent three years at Arizona State with Pierce and Lewis. The span included the shortened COVID season but otherwise a pair of bowl berths including an appearance in the 2021 Las Vegas Bowl.

Lewis will most likely always be known best for his time with the Bengals, where he finished with a 131-122-3 record and went down as the winningest coach in franchise history. Cincinnati hadn’t made the playoffs in 12 years upon Lewis taking over in 2003 but he got them there three seasons into his tenure and went onto make the postseason in nearly half of his campaigns (seven of 16).

Although Cincinnati infamously lost in its first game in all seven tries, Lewis helped shift the culture of the organization. Once he left, the Bengals went on to win their first playoff game in 31 years as part of a Super Bowl run in 2021.

The Raiders are looking for a similar sea change with 22 years having passed since their last playoff victory and only two postseason berths in the span.

If there’s one thing Lewis is sure about, it’s that Pierce will work tirelessly to break the drought. He’s seen the Raiders’ coach work ethic up close on multiple occasions over the years.

“I knew he was driven as a player, and I said that to him,” Lewis said. “I guess it was 2021 at ASU when he came the coordinator and we flipped roles and I went back off the field. He came to me during the bye week, and he said, ‘How am I doing?’ I said, ‘Man, you’re doing really good but you also need to take some time for yourself and take a deep breath as well.’”  

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or