One of the rising stars in the coaching ranks, Antonio Pierce was promoted to Associate Head Coach/Co-Defensive Coordinator in February 2020. Pierce, who also coaches the Sun Devil linebackers and serves as the program’s recruiting coordinator, joined Herm Edwards’ ASU coaching staff in December 2017.
“Antonio Pierce has established himself as one of the elite recruiters in the nation and is one of the brightest up-and-coming coaches around,” Edwards said when announcing Pierce’s most recent promotion. “His impact with the linebackers and with the Sun Devil program in just two seasons has been tangible and he has been a pivotal part in our defensive success since his arrival in Tempe.”
A former Pro Bowl linebacker in the NFL, Pierce has played a pivotal role in the improvement on defense in the last two seasons while helping the program attain to new heights in the recruiting world.
The Sun Devil defense finished the 2019 regular season 35th in scoring defense, allowing just 22.4 points per game – notables as the Sun Devils had finished 99th or worse between 2015-17. ASU has held opponents to 30 points or less in 17 of 26 games the previous two seasons after opponents scored at least 30 in 32 of 43 games previously.
The Sun Devils gave up just three plays over 50 yards last season, tied for the fifth-fewest (new ranking after the Sun Bowl) nationally. ASU was also tied for ninth nationally in allowing just three plays of over 50 yards in 2018 after sitting in the bottom 10 nationally in the previous four years. In 2018, ASU was tied for 11th nationally in allowing just eight plays over 40 yards, an area the Devils had struggled in in previous seasons (allowing 20, 16, 30, 21 in the previous four seasons and finishing 103rd, 79th, 128th, 110th, respectively).
Pierce’s linebackers were key in the Sun Devils staunch run defense in 2019. At the conclusion of the regular season, ASU ranked 21st nationally in allowing just 116.8 rushing yards per game – the best ranking at the end of the regular season for ASU since the 2009 Sun Devils were 19th (108.58 rushing yards per game). ASU allowed 155 or fewer rushing yards in 11 of 12 regular season games, the first time in program history it accomplished the feat since regular seasons expanded to 12 games in the late 1990s.
Under Pierce’s guidance, Darien Butler was named the first true sophomore team captain in program history in 2019. Butler would go on to be the seventh-highest graded linebacker in the Pac-12 on run defense, according to Pro Football Focus, while his 18 total quarterback pressures were tied for eighth among the league’s linebacker.
Butler finished with 79 tackles on the season, leading the team in the category and adding five tackles for loss, leading the team with three forced fumbles and a sack and a fumble recovery.
Khaylan Kearse-Thomas enjoyed a breakout senior campaign under Pierce and was named the team’s most Outstanding Linebacker as a result. Kearse-Thomas (2019 All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection) led the team in tackles for loss with 11 – the most among non-edge rushing linebackers in the Pac-12 – and finished with 57 total tackles. The senior was a part of five sacks, tied for first among Pac-12 linebackers. Among all linebackers and edge defenders in the Pac-12, he recorded the 16th-best positive run impact percentage at 13.6%.
Pierce’s linebacker unit had a big impact in ASU’s defensive success in 2018. Starting true freshmen linebackers Merlin Robertson (77 tackles/first) and Butler (70 tackles/tied for second) were the team’s top two leaders in tackles.
Robertson also led the team in tackles for loss (8.5), and sacks (5.0) and intercepted one pass on his way to earning Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honors. He became the first freshman to lead the team in tackles since Jason Shivers in 2001 and the first freshman to lead the team in tackles for loss and sacks since Junior Onyeali in 2010.
Butler finished tied for second on the team in tackles for loss (8.0) and also added one sack and two forced fumbles. Tying with Butler for second in tackles for loss (8.0) was redshirt freshman linebacker Tyler Johnson, who assumed a starting role over the second half of the season, giving the Sun Devils three first-year starters at linebacker.
Earlier this year, the Sun Devils’ 2020 recruiting class was 23rd in the nation and fourth in the Pac-12 according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings. Eleven of the 18 freshmen in the class were regarded as four-star prospects by at least one recruiting service.
Following the 2018 season and with one full year under his belt, Pierce helped put together the nation’s No. 28 signing class for 2019, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings – the fifth highest-graded class in the Pac-12. Despite being just weeks on the job in the year prior, Pierce helped rally the 2018 Signing Class to 36th nationally and kept the Sun Devils in the top-half of the Pac-12 recruiting rankings.
During his nine-year NFL career, Pierce played 137 regular season games (and seven playoff games) with the Washington Redskins (2001-04) and New York Giants (2005-09). Pierce captained the Giants’ defense for five seasons, including 2007 when he helped anchor the championship team that upset the previously undefeated New England Patriots for a victory in Super Bowl XLII. He was also named to the Pro Bowl that season.
Signed by the Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 2001, Pierce finished his career with 687 tackles, nine sacks and seven interceptions.
Prior to his appointment at ASU, Pierce spent four seasons as the head coach of the Long Beach Poly High School football program following a nine-year career in the NFL. While leading the way at Long Beach Poly, Pierce’s student-athletes earned 54 total scholarships to continue their education – 24 of whom did so at the Division I level.
Pierce took over at Long Beach Poly in 2014, where he became the school’s first outside hire since 1971 as the program underwent an overhaul. He eventually would lead the Jackrabbits to the 2017 CIF Southern Section quarterfinals where they fell to eventual champion Mater Dei.
Pierce immediately instilled a sense of discipline in his players from the moment he arrived and put an emphasis on academics, raising the minimum GPA required for a student to be eligible for his football team and emphasized preparing his players to be professionals in life beyond high school.
A native of Long Beach, Calif., Pierce played college football at the University of Arizona. As a senior, he had three sacks, 77 tackles (10 for losses), two forced fumbles, one interception, and one blocked kick for the Wildcats. Prior to Arizona, Pierce attended Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif.
Beyond his on-field accomplishments, Pierce was the spokesperson for the Giants Academy inner city youth program in 2006, and he works with a number of not-for-profit organizations, including YMCA, DARE, Cystic Fibrosis, My Sisters Place, ASC Football Camp, City Meals on Wheels and Make a Wish Foundation. Pierce received the United Way’s Man of the Year award in 2007 and was honored by Minority Athletes Networking Inc (M.A.N) as its 2008 ‘MAN of the Year,’ for his excellence in the community. In 2011, Pierce was named to the California Community College Athletics Association’s Hall of Fame.
In 2005, Pierce hosted his first annual free football camp for youth in his hometown of Compton, Calif., where it continued for seven years.
In 2006, Pierce started ‘Antonio’s A-List’ at Giants Academy, the Giants charter academic program located in the Louise A. Spencer School in Newark, N.J. ‘Antonio’s A-List’ is a motivational incentive program that rewarded Giants Academy Students that reached certain academic standards each semester and for the entire school year. Pierce visited the school, and accompanied the kids on service trips and preparing meals for the community.
During Antonio’s NFL career he played for Marty Schottenheimer, Marvin Lewis, Steve Spurrier, George Edwards, Greg Williams, Joe Gibbs, Steve Spagnuolo and Tom Coughlin.
“Antonio Pierce has established himself as one of the elite recruiters in the nation and is one of the brightest up-and-coming coaches around,” Edwards said when announcing Pierce’s most recent promotion. “His impact with the linebackers and with the Sun Devil program in just two seasons has been tangible and he has been a pivotal part in our defensive success since his arrival in Tempe.”
A former Pro Bowl linebacker in the NFL, Pierce has played a pivotal role in the improvement on defense in the last two seasons while helping the program attain to new heights in the recruiting world.
The Sun Devil defense finished the 2019 regular season 35th in scoring defense, allowing just 22.4 points per game – notables as the Sun Devils had finished 99th or worse between 2015-17. ASU has held opponents to 30 points or less in 17 of 26 games the previous two seasons after opponents scored at least 30 in 32 of 43 games previously.
The Sun Devils gave up just three plays over 50 yards last season, tied for the fifth-fewest (new ranking after the Sun Bowl) nationally. ASU was also tied for ninth nationally in allowing just three plays of over 50 yards in 2018 after sitting in the bottom 10 nationally in the previous four years. In 2018, ASU was tied for 11th nationally in allowing just eight plays over 40 yards, an area the Devils had struggled in in previous seasons (allowing 20, 16, 30, 21 in the previous four seasons and finishing 103rd, 79th, 128th, 110th, respectively).
Pierce’s linebackers were key in the Sun Devils staunch run defense in 2019. At the conclusion of the regular season, ASU ranked 21st nationally in allowing just 116.8 rushing yards per game – the best ranking at the end of the regular season for ASU since the 2009 Sun Devils were 19th (108.58 rushing yards per game). ASU allowed 155 or fewer rushing yards in 11 of 12 regular season games, the first time in program history it accomplished the feat since regular seasons expanded to 12 games in the late 1990s.
Under Pierce’s guidance, Darien Butler was named the first true sophomore team captain in program history in 2019. Butler would go on to be the seventh-highest graded linebacker in the Pac-12 on run defense, according to Pro Football Focus, while his 18 total quarterback pressures were tied for eighth among the league’s linebacker.
Butler finished with 79 tackles on the season, leading the team in the category and adding five tackles for loss, leading the team with three forced fumbles and a sack and a fumble recovery.
Khaylan Kearse-Thomas enjoyed a breakout senior campaign under Pierce and was named the team’s most Outstanding Linebacker as a result. Kearse-Thomas (2019 All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection) led the team in tackles for loss with 11 – the most among non-edge rushing linebackers in the Pac-12 – and finished with 57 total tackles. The senior was a part of five sacks, tied for first among Pac-12 linebackers. Among all linebackers and edge defenders in the Pac-12, he recorded the 16th-best positive run impact percentage at 13.6%.
Pierce’s linebacker unit had a big impact in ASU’s defensive success in 2018. Starting true freshmen linebackers Merlin Robertson (77 tackles/first) and Butler (70 tackles/tied for second) were the team’s top two leaders in tackles.
Robertson also led the team in tackles for loss (8.5), and sacks (5.0) and intercepted one pass on his way to earning Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honors. He became the first freshman to lead the team in tackles since Jason Shivers in 2001 and the first freshman to lead the team in tackles for loss and sacks since Junior Onyeali in 2010.
Butler finished tied for second on the team in tackles for loss (8.0) and also added one sack and two forced fumbles. Tying with Butler for second in tackles for loss (8.0) was redshirt freshman linebacker Tyler Johnson, who assumed a starting role over the second half of the season, giving the Sun Devils three first-year starters at linebacker.
Earlier this year, the Sun Devils’ 2020 recruiting class was 23rd in the nation and fourth in the Pac-12 according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings. Eleven of the 18 freshmen in the class were regarded as four-star prospects by at least one recruiting service.
Following the 2018 season and with one full year under his belt, Pierce helped put together the nation’s No. 28 signing class for 2019, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings – the fifth highest-graded class in the Pac-12. Despite being just weeks on the job in the year prior, Pierce helped rally the 2018 Signing Class to 36th nationally and kept the Sun Devils in the top-half of the Pac-12 recruiting rankings.
During his nine-year NFL career, Pierce played 137 regular season games (and seven playoff games) with the Washington Redskins (2001-04) and New York Giants (2005-09). Pierce captained the Giants’ defense for five seasons, including 2007 when he helped anchor the championship team that upset the previously undefeated New England Patriots for a victory in Super Bowl XLII. He was also named to the Pro Bowl that season.
Signed by the Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 2001, Pierce finished his career with 687 tackles, nine sacks and seven interceptions.
Prior to his appointment at ASU, Pierce spent four seasons as the head coach of the Long Beach Poly High School football program following a nine-year career in the NFL. While leading the way at Long Beach Poly, Pierce’s student-athletes earned 54 total scholarships to continue their education – 24 of whom did so at the Division I level.
Pierce took over at Long Beach Poly in 2014, where he became the school’s first outside hire since 1971 as the program underwent an overhaul. He eventually would lead the Jackrabbits to the 2017 CIF Southern Section quarterfinals where they fell to eventual champion Mater Dei.
Pierce immediately instilled a sense of discipline in his players from the moment he arrived and put an emphasis on academics, raising the minimum GPA required for a student to be eligible for his football team and emphasized preparing his players to be professionals in life beyond high school.
A native of Long Beach, Calif., Pierce played college football at the University of Arizona. As a senior, he had three sacks, 77 tackles (10 for losses), two forced fumbles, one interception, and one blocked kick for the Wildcats. Prior to Arizona, Pierce attended Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif.
Beyond his on-field accomplishments, Pierce was the spokesperson for the Giants Academy inner city youth program in 2006, and he works with a number of not-for-profit organizations, including YMCA, DARE, Cystic Fibrosis, My Sisters Place, ASC Football Camp, City Meals on Wheels and Make a Wish Foundation. Pierce received the United Way’s Man of the Year award in 2007 and was honored by Minority Athletes Networking Inc (M.A.N) as its 2008 ‘MAN of the Year,’ for his excellence in the community. In 2011, Pierce was named to the California Community College Athletics Association’s Hall of Fame.
In 2005, Pierce hosted his first annual free football camp for youth in his hometown of Compton, Calif., where it continued for seven years.
In 2006, Pierce started ‘Antonio’s A-List’ at Giants Academy, the Giants charter academic program located in the Louise A. Spencer School in Newark, N.J. ‘Antonio’s A-List’ is a motivational incentive program that rewarded Giants Academy Students that reached certain academic standards each semester and for the entire school year. Pierce visited the school, and accompanied the kids on service trips and preparing meals for the community.
During Antonio’s NFL career he played for Marty Schottenheimer, Marvin Lewis, Steve Spurrier, George Edwards, Greg Williams, Joe Gibbs, Steve Spagnuolo and Tom Coughlin.