Diversity is nothing new to the Raiders. Literally since the inception of the franchise in the American Football League in 1960, it’s been woven into their fabric.

The Raiders quarterback that inaugural season was Tom Flores, the first Latino starting quarterback in professional football. In 1968, the Raiders made Eldridge Dickey the first Black quarterback to be drafted in the first round (though they immediately moved him to wide receiver). Twenty years after Flores broke a barrier as a player, he became the first head coach of color to win a Super Bowl when he led the Raiders to a win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV.

Flores was succeeded by Mike Shanahan in 1988. Just four games into Shanahan’s second season, he was fired and replaced on an interim basis by Art Shell. A Hall of Fame player with the Raiders from 1968 to 1982, Shell went 7-5 and was promoted ahead of the 1990 season, making him the first full-time Black head coach in NFL history.

But the Raiders’ willingness to blaze trails hasn’t been limited to football operations. In 1997, they hired Amy Trask as the NFL’s first female CEO. And in 2022, the franchise hired Sandra Douglass Morgan as the first Black woman team president in league history. When Antonio Pierce and Champ Kelly were promoted to interim head coach and general manager last October, the Raiders became the first team in NFL history with a Black head coach, GM and president.

Late Raiders owner Al Davis was willing to put people of color and women in prominent positions, and that trend has been continued by his son, Mark. Being open to the top candidate, regardless of color or gender, has been part of this franchise for decades.

“I hired her because of who she is,” Davis told The Athletic last year about Douglass Morgan, “not because of what she is.”

I̶n̶t̶e̶r̶i̶m̶ Head Coach Antonio Pierce#RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/HV8UWF8pH2

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 20, 2024

In hiring Pierce as the full-time head coach Friday, Davis stayed true to that ideology. While Pierce’s hiring is not as significant as Shell’s over three decades ago, it remains important given the NFL’s continued struggles with racial diversity.

Pierce joins Shell, Romeo Crennel, Leslie Frazier and Mike Singletary in becoming just the fifth Black interim head coach to subsequently land his team’s full-time job in NFL history. With the odds stacked against him, he pulled off the improbable.

Obviously, the Raiders didn’t hire Pierce just because he was Black. They hired him because, after taking over for the fired Josh McDaniels eight games into the season, he changed everything for the Raiders. The team went 5-4 over its final nine games, while Pierce energized the locker room, empowered his assistant coaches and instilled a positive culture that reverberated throughout team headquarters. In two months, the Raiders went from a rudderless franchise to one with promise and a clear foundation.

Despite that, there was no guarantee Pierce would get the job. Interim coach Rich Bisaccia, who’s White, led the Raiders to a playoff berth in 2021 and still didn’t get the full-time job. Steve Wilks, who’s Black, nearly led the Carolina Panthers to a playoff berth as an interim coach in 2022 and didn’t get the full-time job. That drives home the noteworthiness of Pierce’s promotion, and its effects could extend far beyond Las Vegas.

From 2019 to 2023, the NFL began each season with just three head coaches who identify as Black. Now, however, after the New England Patriots hired Jerod Mayo and the Raiders promoted Pierce, there are five Black head coaches. Including Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, who identifies as multiracial, and New York Jets coach Robert Saleh, who’s Lebanese, there are now seven head coaches of color.

In an NFL where offensive-minded — and largely White — coordinators land the majority of the head coaching jobs, it’s noteworthy that Mayo and Pierce made the same leap from linebackers coach in becoming the first two hires of the cycle. And with six vacancies remaining — the Tennessee Titans, Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks — it could grow into a trend this offseason.

There are plenty of defensive-minded White coaches who would also stand to benefit. Former head coaches Bill Belichick and Mike Vrabel, along with defensive coordinators Mike Macdonald (Baltimore Ravens), Dan Quinn (Dallas Cowboys) and Lou Anarumo (Cincinnati Bengals), among others, will draw strong consideration for the remaining vacancies.

With that being said, a potential shift toward defensive-minded coaches would mean more for Black candidates. It’s not that there aren’t Black coaches who specialize on offense, but fewer have been given opportunities on that side of the ball.

There are currently three Black offensive coordinators in the NFL: Eric Bieniemy (Commanders), Thomas Brown (Panthers) and Brian Johnson (Eagles). Even that number is in question as Bieniemy and Brown both work for teams with head coaching vacancies, which means they soon may have to seek employment elsewhere. Brown and Johnson have received head coaching interviews this cycle.

On the other hand, the NFL has 11 Black defensive coordinators. Among them, Patrick Graham (Raiders), Aaron Glenn (Detroit Lions), Ejiro Evero (Panthers), Raheem Morris (Los Angeles Rams) and Wilks (San Francisco 49ers) have received head coaching interviews this month.

When it comes to Black defensive coaches, the success of their counterparts who landed head coaching roles has certainly been helpful. All three of the full-time Black head coaches who started the 2023 season had a defensive background: Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers), DeMeco Ryans (Houston Texans) and Todd Bowles (Tampa Bay Buccaneers). All three made the postseason, and Ryans and Bowles won playoff games.

It’s easy to trace the line to Mayo and Pierce benefiting from that development. For it to continue, they now share the burden of putting diverse coaches in prominent positions as they assemble their coaching staffs.

The progress they embody is promising, but it won’t be sustained without intentional effort. After all, the NFL set a record with seven Black head coaches in 2006 before regressing substantially over the years that followed. In their own ways, Mayo and Pierce have indicated they want to avoid repeating that outcome.

In his introductory news conference with the Patriots on Wednesday, Mayo made it a point to drive home how much it meant for him to be the first Black head coach in franchise history. And immediately after owner Robert Kraft stated that he “doesn’t see color,” Mayo pointed out why that line of thinking isn’t helpful.

“I do see color,” Mayo said, “because I believe if you don’t see color, you can’t see racism.”

“I do see color, because I believe if you don’t see color you can’t see racism.”

Jerod Mayo on being named the first black head coach in Patriots history. pic.twitter.com/toTTJ6CrB3

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 17, 2024

Pierce hasn’t been introduced as Raiders head coach yet, but he’s cut from the same cloth as Mayo. His race isn’t something he ignores; he embraces it. For the NFL’s diversity efforts to be successful, the league needs more people with that mindset in positions of power.

“Hat’s off to Mr. Davis. Obviously, his father, Al, really set the tone in the National Football League — the AFL back then — of breaking barriers,” Pierce said in an interview with KTNV on Monday when asked about what he represented as a Black coach with the chance of getting the full-time job. “It’s a dream. I don’t want to pinch myself yet until it becomes official and we put a stamp on this bad boy, but I’m very humbled and honored.”

It’s official now. Pierce has his stamp. And if he’s successful, it could help others who look like him achieve the same.