Ready, set, look at each other approvingly… and go.

The Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers kick off the season against each other on Sunday and are in many ways mirror images of each other. Both teams are led by courageous former players as head coaches who preach toughness and accountability, but also try to keep it light at times.

Antonio Pierce had his Raiders players light victory cigars in the locker room last season when he took over for the fired Josh McDaniels. The Raiders went 5-4 under Pierce, winning three of their last four games, including a Christmas Day win at Kansas City. The interim tag was removed in January when owner Mark Davis said The Athletics that he never really considered anyone else – including Jim Harbaugh – for the job.

Pierce was “something special,” Davis said.

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Raiders owner Mark Davis on the hiring process of Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco

Harbaugh, who began his coaching career as an assistant with the Oakland Raiders, won a national championship at the University of Michigan before accepting the head coaching job with the Chargers.

The Raiders and Chargers are trying to recreate the same old-school dynamic, but the Raiders have a three-month head start thanks to Pierce’s time as interim coach.

(One of Pierce’s victories was a 63-21 win over the Chargers, which led to the firing of general manager Tom Telesco … which led to Pierce being present for his interview with the Raiders … and Telesco being hired by the Raiders … and secretly craving revenge this week.)

If you listen to the Raiders and Chargers players, the descriptions of the two coaches are very similar.

“I really like his approach as a coach,” Raiders defensive tackle Christian Wilkins said Wednesday of Pierce. “He puts a lot on the line for us as players to take over. He sets the culture, sets the standards. As a player, he’s an easy guy to get behind. He’s the same guy every day and he shows it every day.”

Chargers edge rusher and former Raiders star Khalil Mack enjoys listening to Harbaugh’s stories and crazy comparisons, but underneath it all lies a burning desire to win.

“He’s a different character, man,” Mack told reporters. “He’s a different individual in the sense of just no-nonsense. He knows the expectation, he knows what he expects from each individual. … He’ll tell you if you’re not meeting that expectation.”

The Chargers have swapped most of their skill position personnel on offense, but they still have Justin Herbert at quarterback and star players like Mack, Joey Bosa and Derwin James Jr. on defense. And they have Harbaugh.

“Everywhere he goes, he wins,” Pierce said Wednesday. “Extreme respect for Harbaugh and what he’s done in the past, both in college and professionally.”

Harbaugh didn’t play any of his starters in the preseason, so the Raiders coaches looked back at some of the things he did when he coached the San Francisco 49ers more than a decade ago. They also studied the Baltimore Ravens, where Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman coached from 2017-2022.

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“It’s just a little tricky this time around because we haven’t seen anything on film yet,” Pierce said. “You’ve got a little bit of Michigan, you’ve got maybe some Baltimore, some Niners stuff that you can look at. But ultimately, we’re going to have to make some adjustments in the game, and that’s what we’re willing to do.”

Like the Raiders, they know that the Chargers will primarily play the ball offensively.

“It’s smart,” Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said Thursday. “It’s smart. All teams that win, it comes down to running the ball. You can’t get anywhere in January without being able to run the ball. … To be strong, you’ve got to be able to run the ball. And he’s been successful at that.”

(Graham noted that he was 0-2 against Roman, whose Ravens rushed for 265 and 249 yards in the 2019 and 2020 victories over Graham’s Miami Dolphins and New York Giants teams, respectively. Running backs Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins, both now with the Chargers, combined for 162 yards on 26 carries in the 2020 game.)

Harbaugh’s brother, John, still coaches the Ravens, but the Raiders are not going to win on Sunday because they found a game Jim borrowed from his brother.

Pierce actually wants his players to think less.

“We’ve got to bring our helmets,” Pierce said. “Less is more. Sometimes when you’re calling the game as a coordinator or a head coach, you want to throw everything out there in Week 1. And let’s be realistic, you’re still in that training camp, preseason mode, right? Because there’s not a lot of reps.

“So let your players play fast, don’t sit there and make it a mind game. These guys are physically the 1 percent of the 1 percent of the world. Don’t let it slow them down mentally, because you have all these great plans and ideas.”

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Pierce and Harbaugh are two of eight head coaches who are former players, and that number seems to be rising again for the simple reason that players want more connection with their coach.

“AP has been in our shoes, so he knows what it takes and what’s expected of us,” Raiders cornerback Jack Jones said. “He lets us be ourselves and have our own personality, as long as we do business and practice hard and play hard, and as a player you can’t ask for anything more.”

Both Pierce and Harbaugh know what players want and need to hear.

“Jim just has that unique sense of what’s right for the team,” Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter told reporters. “But he’s also been in their shoes. They respect the fact that he’s been in their shoes. He respects that they’re going through what he’s been through.”

Both coaches have also had some issues with recruiting violations at their college stops, Pierce at Arizona State and Harbaugh at Michigan. No one is sugarcoating or excusing that, but they’re bottom-line guys and neither will be satisfied until they win a Super Bowl.

In fact, Harbaugh will never be “satisfied.”

“Satisfied? That’s just a word I would never use in any way, shape or form in connection with football,” Harbaugh told reporters. “From now on, that word is just a … I almost never … that’s a word to be embarrassed about. That would be in the bottom five as far as football words go. …

“Comfortable would be exactly the same as satisfied. It just doesn’t appeal to me in football. The other words are better. Involved. That’s a great word. Execution. That’s a top five word. Settlement. Those are real football words for me. Satisfied, bottom five.”

Pierce would nod in agreement to this.

(Top photos of Antonio Pierce and Jim Harbaugh: Chris Unger and Harry How / Getty Images)