Antonio Pierce handed 8-year show cause for ASU recruiting violations

Former Arizona State football associate head coach Antonio Pierce won’t be coaching in the college ranks anytime soon — at least, not without a caveat.

Pierce, the current head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, was handed an eight-year show cause penalty by the NCAA’s Division I Committee on Infractions panel on Thursday for his role in impermissible recruiting activities during the COVID-19 dead period.

Pierce, along with former non-coaching staff member Anthony Garnett, was deemed to have participated in recruiting inducements to prospects and families, violating the NCAA’s ethical conduct, the organization announced. If Pierce is to return to the college coaching ranks during his show cause, he would have to serve a one-year suspension for the first year of his tenure.

The NCAA noted the majority of Pierce’s violations came in 2020 when he, other members of the Sun Devils’ staff and a university booster arranged unofficial visits to the program for roughly a year during the dead period. The NCAA said the visits occurred over 15 weekends and included facility tours, entertainment and tryouts with 35 recruits and their families.

Pierce also arranged or personally provided meals, merchandise and airfare for 27 prospects, ‘often in collaboration with the school booster,’ according to the NCAA. He also brought a recruit’s parents to a gentlemen’s club.

The NCAA’s release also said Pierce didn’t cooperate with the investigation to its standard.

‘After separating from Arizona State, Pierce failed on multiple occasions to meet his responsibility to cooperate,’ the release stated. ‘Although he participated in an interview with enforcement staff and acknowledged some facts surrounding the unofficial visits, he consistently denied planning or arranging any portion of the visits, providing recruiting inducements, or participating in the out-of-state contacts and evaluations.

‘Additionally, Pierce failed to provide pertinent financial documentation requested by the enforcement staff.’

Garnett received a five-year show cause and would also have to serve a one-year suspension for the first year at his new school.

Pierce, an NFL linebacker for Washington and the New York Giants from 2001-09, went undrafted in the 2001 NFL draft out of Arizona. He served as Las Vegas’ interim head coach in 2023 before being promoted to full-time head coach ahead of the 2024 season.

Pierce served in a variety of positions at Arizona State from 2018-21, starting as a linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator (2018-19) before being promoted to associate head coach in 2020.

The 45-year-old coach joined Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh — who received a four-year show cause infraction in August from his tenure at Michigan — as NFL head coaches to receiver a show-cause penalty by the NCAA.