The Washington Redskins are set to hire Ron Rivera as their next head coach. He can change this franchise’s culture so long as he is empowered to do so.
It’s been a rough two decades for the Washington Redskins.
The once-proud NFC East franchise had fallen on hard times in the 2000s and the 2010s, almost entirely of their own doing. Since Daniel Snyder purchased the franchise in 1999 after the death of former owner Jack Kent Cooke, the Redskins have only made the playoffs five times.
Under Snyder’s watch, Washington occasionally competes for an NFC East crown, but never achieved any sort of continued success like it had during the first Joe Gibbs era in town or the George Allen years before that. All the while, the Redskins challenged the Detroit Lions for the most dysfunctional franchise in the NFC of the last two decades. Something had to change.
After an 0-5 start under previous head coach Jay Gruden, Snyder fired the 28th head coach in franchise history in favor of offensive line coach Bill Callahan captaining the ship in the interim. Washington has had multiple months to find a suitable replacement for Gruden and it looks as if the Redskins got the best guy for the job in former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera.
It is reported that Rivera will be named the next head coach of the Redskins, as this was his first interview since being let go by Carolina about a month ago. In Charlotte, Rivera went 76-63-1 in nearly nine seasons. The Panthers made the playoffs four times, won the NFC South three years in a row and reached Super Bowl 50.
Rivera is a tough defensive-minded coach from the Andy Reid coaching tree. He’s known to make risky gambles on the sidelines in terms of play-calling, hence the nickname “Riverboat Ron.” Rivera is a no-nonsense guy and will bring stability to a chaotic situation so long as he is empowered.
He did it in Carolina after John Fox was fired, but can he do the unthinkable in Washington?
The first big step to ensure that things are going to change for the better is Snyder has finally sent former team president and general manager Bruce Allen packing. Allen, the son of the legendary Redskins head coach George Allen, was seen as a major liability in Redskins organization, impossible to get a hold of and the biggest reason Washington was so dysfunctional.
It is reported that Rivera wouldn’t even interview with the Redskins until Allen was out of the building. Now that Snyder has held up his end of the bargain by firing his friend, together, Snyder and Rivera can get to work in making Washington something to be proud of.
Let’s be real. This is the best head-coaching hire Washington could have made in this cycle. Prying a head coach out of the college game like Matt Rhule at Baylor or Matt Campbell at Iowa State could have worked too, but Rivera’s proven track record at the professional level can’t be denied. Did you really think Urban Meyer was going to leave the FOX desk for this gig anyway? Me neither.
Even though the Redskins went a dreadful 3-13, there are several things that make this job appealing for a coach the caliber of Rivera. He’ll enter a situation with low expectations, as Washington probably won’t push for a playoff spot until 2022. He inherits a young first-round quarterback in Dwayne Haskins and a promising young wide receiver in Terry McLaurin.
More importantly, the Redskins have several pieces on the defensive side of the ball that Rivera can turn into a juggernaut within a year or so. Defensive end Ryan Kerrigan and cornerback Josh Norman are Pro Bowlers. Let’s not forget that Washington has the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. That means they can select Ohio State defensive end Chase Young with that pick.
The real key here is Rivera’s working relationship with Snyder and Allen’s replacement in the front office. If he is empowered like he was in Charlotte by former Panthers owner Jerry Richardson and former Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman, Washington can feel hope as a football franchise for the first time since Gibbs’ dominance in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Of course, Washington will have to learn how to not lose before the Redskins learn how to win. It’ll take some time, as Rivera isn’t going to fix this mess in a year or two. Sure, this hire could prove to be a total disaster, but with Allen no longer part of the equation, Rivera actually has a chance to succeed, something no former Redskins head coach can say he had under Snyder’s ownership.