LAS VEGAS -- Antonio Pierce said he has only had "butterflies" three times in his professional football life -- before his first game as an NFL player in 2001, before the Super Bowl he played in for the New York Giants in 2008, and on Sunday, before his first game as interim coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
So he went back to basics.
At the beginning of the work week, hours after he was promoted from linebackers coach in the wake of Josh McDaniels' Halloween night firing, Pierce handed out blank sheets of paper to Raiders players.