The Las Vegas Raiders fired Antonio Pierce on Tuesday after just one season as their full-time head coach, the latest in a line of coaching changes over the past several years.

"We appreciate Antonio's leadership, first as an interim head coach and this past season as the head coach," the team said in a statement. "Antonio grew up a Raiders fan and his Silver and Black roots run deep. We are grateful for his ability to reignite what it means to be a Raider throughout the entire organization. We wish nothing but the best for Antonio and his family in the future."

Pierce took over as the interim coach midway through the 2023 season and went 5-4 the rest of the way, earning strong player support for him to get the job on a full-time basis.

But the Raiders, after a 2-2 start, went on a 10-game losing streak to put his job in jeopardy. The Raiders dealt with a number of injuries, including to defensive linemen Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins, navigated the Davante Adams early season drama that culminated with a trade to the New York Jets and finished the season 4-13.

Pierce was the fourth full-time Raiders coach — Rich Bisaccia closed out the 2021 season as the interim coach — in the past decade.

As for where the Raiders turn next, Mike Vrabel has been rumoured as a possible candidate. He and Raiders minority owner Tom Brady were teammates with the Patriots, but Vrabel also figures to attract a lot of attention from other clubs with openings, perhaps including in New England.

There are other pressing issues than coach. Las Vegas needs a franchise quarterback, something Pierce did not have at his disposal. Aidan O'Connell has proven to be a capable starter but hasn't shown he has the ability or consistency to take a team deep into the playoffs.

But simply making the playoffs would be a major step forward for whichever coach gets the job. The Raiders' most recent post-season appearance was three years ago; before that, they advanced to the playoffs just once since losing in the Super Bowl for the 2002 season.

General manager Tom Telesco will need to fix a number of a number of holes to give the new coach a reasonable chance to compete, most notably addressing running back and wide receiver and finding more depth for the defence.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, the Tennessee Titans fired general manager Ran Carthon after two seasons on the job and a 9-25 record.

The Titans introduced Carthon as the franchise's first Black GM in January 2023, and he helped the franchise hire a new coach in Brian Callahan a year later.

Tennessee controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk, who fired GM Jon Robinson in December 2022, will have yet another new GM to help the franchise decide what to do with its fourth overall No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, which it secured after going 3-14 in 2024. Strunk said Chad Brinker, president of football operations, will lead the search for a new GM.

Strunk said in a statement it was impossible to ignore the Titans didn't improve over the last two years. She said Callahan would continue as head coach even as the Titans lost their final six games and eight of nine. The 14 losses matched the 2014 season for the most losses since the team relocated from Texas to Tennessee in 1997.

It has had the No. 1 overall pick once since then, and Robinson traded it for a haul of selections for his first NFL draft in 2016.

"I am deeply disappointed in our poor win-loss record during this period, of course, but my decision also speaks to my concern about our long-term future should we stay the course," Strunk said in her statement. "I love this team more than you can imagine. To our fans: we know this level of performance isn't acceptable. We're humbled by your support as we continue to work towards building the team you expect and deserve."

She hired Carthon to work with then-coach Mike Vrabel, who was fired two days after the 2023 season ended. He helped with the search that landed on Callahan.

Carthon made Tennessee among the NFL's biggest spenders last off-season, signing players like cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, centre Lloyd Cushenberry, wide receiver Calvin Ridley and running back Tony Pollard. Ridley finished with 1,017 yards, and Pollard led the team with 1,079 yards and five touchdown runs.

The Titans also traded a pick to Kansas City for cornerback L'Jarius Sneed, who played only five games this season before becoming one of 12 players on injured reserve. He sustained a quad injury he told reporters last week required bone marrow injections.

Cushenberry also started just eight games. Awuzie was on injured reserve for nine and benched for one game, starting just seven.

Titans president and CEO Burke Nihill explained on the team's website why Strunk fired Carthon and noted Carthon was hired when they had a different description for the general manager job from what the franchise wants now. The Titans want a GM who partners closely with the existing head coach.

"Ran had very different circumstances over the last two years in terms of his role," Nihill said. "At the end of the day, this is a results-oriented business. Amy's assessment is we needed to make a change."

Carthon was promoted to executive vice-president in addition to his GM title last year. That's when the Titans promoted Brinker to president of football operations, a new position for Tennessee after being hired in February 2023 following 13 seasons with Green Bay.

Beyond the personnel issues, the Titans struggled all season with turnovers and penalties. Callahan was hired for his offensive background working with quarterbacks from Peyton Manning to Derek Carr and Joe Burrow because the Titans needed someone to develop Will Levis in his second season.

The Titans traded up to No. 33 overall to select Levis in Carthon's first draft. The quarterback dealt with an injury to his throwing shoulder and was benched. He started only 12 games and had 18 of the Titans' 34 giveaways. Levis was sacked 41 times behind an offensive line with a rookie left tackle in JC Latham and a revolving door at right tackle.

The San Francisco 49ers fired special teams coach Brian Schneider, multiple media outlets reported.

Schneider's special teams had several high-profile mishaps during his third season with the 49ers, who limped to a 6-11 finish in 2024 and missed the playoffs.

A blocked punt led to San Francisco's undoing in its 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 15. The 49ers allowed the conversion of a fake punt and a missed field goal the following week, miscues that led to a 27-24 setback to the Los Angeles Rams.

Jake Moody, 25, made 24 of 34 field-goal attempts in 2024 after San Francisco used a third-round pick on the kicker in the 2023 NFL Draft. He misfired on five of 14 attempts from at least 40 yards after returning from a high ankle sprain.

Schneider, 53, served as a special teams co-ordinator in both the collegiate and NFL ranks.

He spent two seasons with the then-Oakland Raiders (2007-08), 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks (2010-20) and one with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2021) before leaving that club for personal reasons.