During his final season serving as the ASU associate football coach, Antonio Pierce played a major role in the aggressive recruiting strategy that led to severe NCAA infractions. (Photo by Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
TEMPE – Since June of 2021, the wrongdoings of former Arizona State and current Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce and his staff have plagued the institution’s football program. Now, years later, the full extent of Pierce and his staff’s misconduct have been revealed.
Unethical paid expenses for recruits, prohibited visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, visits to gentlemen’s clubs with recruits’ parents, and trips to shooting ranges with recruits are only a fraction of the many violations the NCAA discovered in their investigation, according to the NCAA’s public infractions decision released today.
Pierce, a former NFL linebacker who won a Super Bowl title in 2008 with the New York Giants, served in various positions with the ASU program from 2018-2021, including associate head coach, defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator.
Others involved in the case from ASU include: Herm Edwards (former head football coach), Prentice Gill (former assistant football coach), Chris Hawkins (former assistant football coach), Zak Hill (former assistant football coach), Eric Bowman (former assistant equipment manager), Derek Hagan (former assistant football coach), Rob Rodriguez (former assistant football coach), and Anthony Garnett (former non-coaching staff member with sport-specific responsibilities).
What exactly triggered Pierce’s reckless disregard for the NCAA’s dead period legislation rules? He conceived himself that an aggressive recruiting strategy was vital in competing with rival institutions during the dead period.
According to the document, “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.”
The extent of that wealth is unclear. In June, The Athletic reported that a bankruptcy filing by the wife of Raiders coach Antonio Pierce indicated he is financially responsible for $28 million in civil judgments.
Pierce was able to spearhead the misconduct largely because of Edwards bestowing him an unheralded level of authority. Gill, then a Sun Devils assistant coach, stated the message from Edwards to other staff members was, “Pierce ran the show,” according to the public infractions decision.
“To highlight this dynamic, Gill pointed to the fact that he never spoke to Edwards during his hiring process and only met him on his second day of employment at Arizona State,” according to the document. “Thus, in Gill’s mind, Pierce “was the head coach.””
Despite Edwards’ trust and admiration of Pierce, to the point of making him the unofficial head coach, Edwards cooperated with the NCAA in their investigation and agreed with their findings.
Pierce’s control over the program allowed him to do as he pleased, at the expense of other staff members. On multiple occasions, Pierce had recruiting staff members help facilitate off-campus events for the recruits and their parents.
“Pierce and Garnett directed recruiting staff members to drive a van from the off-campus rental residence to a gentlemen’s club,” according to the document. “In an interview with the enforcement staff, one of the recruiting staff members recalled telling the group that she did not want to go to the club; however, she was told that she would be serving as the designated driver because others were consuming alcohol, so she had to ‘just get in the van and drive.’
“That staff member recalled driving individuals to the club, including Pierce, Garnett, Jackson, a prospect’s parents and another non-coaching staff member. She reported that Pierce, Garnett and Jackson gave her directions to the club as she drove. She also verified that, aside from herself and the other non-coaching staff member, each of the individuals that she drove went into the club for approximately 90 minutes.”
Hawkins also identified Pierce as the central figure in the scheme, detailing in his interview with the enforcement staff that Pierce informed staff members of specific prospects that caught his attention.
“Our job was to get a kid and his family…to agree (to visit),” Hawkins said. “Once they agreed to come that weekend (the staff member) would just kind of hand him off to (Pierce) and he (would) take care of the rest.”
Anyone who objected to Pierce’s orders and requests were threatened with losing their job.
“Gill recalled being “slammed on (a) number of occasions from (Pierce) about just getting the job done,” per the NCAA document article. “For Gill, his pressure to comply with Pierce’s directives stemmed from a fear that he would be terminated if he did not secure prospects.”
Specifically, Gill stated that he was a young coach in his first full-time role who did not want to lose his job, so he did as he was told. Hawkins added that he and Gill were in a unique position as Pierce’s first two hires upon being promoted to associate head coach.
From Hawkins’ perspective, Pierce believed that he and Gill were going to do exactly as Pierce instructed in exchange for the opportunity they had been given. Like Gill, Hawkins felt that he “had to abide by what (Pierce’s) rules were” because Pierce said Hawkins would be terminated if he did not participate in the unofficial visits.
Hawkins recalled the pressure of being the only coach on staff with a one-year contract, combined with being one of the youngest coaches in the country running a position group and said that he “just felt like (he) had to do everything in (his) power to keep (his) job.”
Pierce often collaborated with third-party booster Regina Jackson, the mother of then-Sun Devils and current Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, regarding the expenses of recruitment trips. In preparation for a prospect’s visit, financial needs were pre-arranged such as airfare, lodging and meals.
Hawkins explained that Jackson used her credit card to pay for flights and lodging, with Pierce reimbursing her in cash, according to Gill and an assistant coach during their interviews with the enforcement staff.
Additionally, the assistant coach detailed that he learned from other Arizona State football staff members – including Pierce – that using third parties to facilitate transactions was the best method to create “plausible deniability.”
Despite the findings of the NCAA, Pierce and Garnett deny some of the violations and seek to resolve their matters by written record hearings.
Regardless of what transpires in the future, Arizona State will no longer be punished in this ordeal, having served a self-imposed ban from bowl eligibility last year. Pierce and other staff members named in this investigation will be serving long-term punishments from the NCAA.
Pierce will receive the harshest punishment, with the NCAA announcing today that they implemented an eight-year show-cause penalty. It ranks among the most notable show-cause penalties in NCAA history, joining the likes of former Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon, who received a 15-year show-cause penalty.