Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce arranged a visit to a strip club for an Arizona State recruit’s parents during the COVID-19 dead period in 2021, according to an NCAA investigation.
As a result, the NCAA has pre-emptively suspended Pierce for one year should he ever decide to return to the college ranks from the NFL.
Pierce was serving as the Sun Devils’ defensive coordinator under former NFL head coach Herm Edwards at the time. However, it was Pierce who was said by Arizona State staffers to be the ‘ringleader’ of an improper recruiting scheme, which gave the Sun Devils early access to prospects at a time when in-person visits were forbidden due to the pandemic.
The alleged incident took place four years ago, when Pierce and other staff members arranged for no fewer than 10 prospects and their families to visit the school’s Tempe, Arizona campus. The trip included no-cost hotel accommodations for players and their families as well as trips to a bowling alley and video game arcade. There were free meals, a chauffeured van, and an extensive tour of the Sun Devils’ football facility.
For one night, Pierce and noncoaching staff member Anthony Garnett told staff to drive the van to a nearby gentleman’s club. And although the female staffer was against following the order, she was instructed that she needed to serve as the designated driver.
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce speaks to reporters in September
‘Just get in the van and drive,’ she was told, according to the NCAA probe.
Ultimately Pierce, Garnett and a prospect’s parents attended the club.
In its report, the NCAA claims Pierce was unafraid of any punishments due to his personal fortune. However, in June, Pierce was named in his wife’s bankruptcy filing after he allegedly invested in car dealerships that defaulted on $28 million in loans.
‘Pierce knowingly and blatantly disregarded fundamental dead period legislation to orchestrate the majority of violations in this case,’ read the NCAA report. ‘Pierce’s defiance of and indifference to NCAA rules was, in part, motivated by his observation that he needed to maintain an aggressive recruiting presence in order to compete with what he believed other institutions were doing during the dead period.
‘Similarly, according to one staff member, Pierce did not fear the potential consequences for NCAA violations due to the financial security provided by his self-proclaimed wealth. In his role, Pierce had primary control of the football program’s roster and oversight of coaching staff members’ recruiting activities. Pierce used his position of authority to pressure staff members into engaging in violations, often by instilling fear that they would lose their jobs if they did not follow his orders.’
Arizona State Sun Devils coach Antonio Pierce talks with his son, DeAndre Pierce
In April it was revealed that Arizona State’s football program would get four years’ probation and an undisclosed fine for the recruiting violations under Edwards, who was dismissed from the school in 2022.
In addition, four former university employees received show-cause penalties from 3-10 years in duration. And although it was not revealed at the time, one of those former employees is Pierce, who now faces an eight-year show-cause order. That means for the next eight years, any NCAA program that hires Pierce will need to ‘show cause’ as to why it should not be sanctioned.
Meanwhile, Garnett received a five-year show-cause order.
The Sun Devils also had to vacate games in which ineligible players competed, saw scholarships reduced and received recruiting restrictions.
Arizona State, which self-imposed a postseason ban in 2023, remains eligible for bowl games following the 2024 regular season, its first in the Big 12.
Jason Leonard, the executive director of athletics compliance at Oklahoma and chief hearing officer for the NCAA committee on infractions panel, noted Arizona State’s cooperation.
The NCAA found that Pierce and Garnett arraigned the trip for the recruit’s parents
‘The school’s acceptance of responsibility and decision to self-impose meaningful core penalties is a model for all schools to follow and is consistent with the expectations of the NCAA’s infractions program,’ Leonard said in an April statement.
The trouble came to pass three years ago when Arizona State reportedly committed violations associated with the recruiting restrictions instituted during the COVID-19 ‘dead period.’
The NCAA stated that Edwards, fired after three games in 2022, committed a ‘responsibility violation’ and that ASU allowed ‘recruiting inducements, impermissible tryouts’ and was found to have committed tampering.
‘The COVID dead period rules were created not only for the sake of competitive equity but for the safety and well-being of prospective and enrolled student-athletes and their families,’ Arizona State president Michael Crow said. ‘ASU is disappointed and embarrassed by the actions of certain former football staff members who took advantage of a global pandemic to hide their behavior.’
Pierce is perhaps best known for rushing teammate Plaxico Burress to the hospital in 2008
Pierce, 45, was an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator for the Sun Devils from 2017-21. He resigned prior to the 2022 season and was hired as the linebackers coach of the Raiders.
The former Giants and Redskins linebacker replaced fired head coach Josh McDaniels in October. The team dropped the ‘interim’ tag in January.
Previously, the former Super Bowl winner was named as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit in Pennsylvania, which remains open, according to a court filing obtained by DailyMail.com. Another former Giants linebacker, Jessie Armstead, is also listed in that case.
Aside from the NFL, Pierce is perhaps best known for rushing teammate Plaxico Burress to the hospital after the Giants wide receiver accidentally shot himself at a strip club in 2008. Pierce was later cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in the incident after allegedly attempting to hide Burress’ gun in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
