The Washington Commanders fired head coach Ron Rivera on Monday following the team’s 4-13 season, Rivera’s fourth leading Washington.
Washington entered the 2023 campaign with heightened expectations but lost the final eight games of the season.
Rivera’s ouster followed new principal owner Josh Harris’ first season controlling the organization. The coach never posted a winning record in his four seasons in Washington, finishing 26-40-1 overall. The Commanders – the ‘Football Team’ at the time – won the NFC East in 2020, Rivera’s first season, with a 7-9 mark.
‘Ron helped navigate this organization through some challenging times,’ Harris said in a statement. ‘He is a good man and thoughtful leader who has positively contributed to this organization and the NFL.’
In a statement posted to the team’s Twitter account, Rivera thanked Harris as well as the team’s fans, players and coaching staff.
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‘As for Washington, it wasn’t easy and there is a lot more to be done, but I believe we began to change the culture of this organization in meaningful ways,’ Rivera said. ‘And on a personal note, it has been one of the greatest honors of my career to serve this franchise and those who cheer it on every week.’
With Rivera acknowledging before the season he needed a successful campaign to prove to ownership he deserved to stick around, his team started 2-0 this season managed two wins the rest of the way.
“I think really the thing for me more than anything else has just been we didn’t live up to the expectations that we had or that I had personally,’ Rivera told reporters last week. ‘I really felt there were some opportunities and some things that we missed, and that to me was probably the biggest disappointment more than anything else because I really felt we had the makings of enough good players in certain situations that we should have won a few more games.”
Harris said his ownership partners, including Mitchell Rales, Magic Johnson and David Blitzer – along with new executive hires Bob Myers (formerly of the Golden State Warriors) and Rick Spielman – will lead the search committee for a new head coach and a leader of the football operations department.
‘In my experience, championship infrastructure begins with a strong ownership group that prioritizes culture and invests in attracting the industry’s most talented and innovative leaders,’ Myers said in a statement. ‘In speaking with Josh and his team, it’s clear they will do everything it takes to build out a world-class organization – one that can win on the field and make a positive mark in the DMV community.’
Rivera was hired by former owner Dan Snyder as the organization – namely Snyder – became the target of multiple investigations regarding workplace culture and other malfeasances. Snyder, upon his sale of the team, had to pay a $60 million fine after a league probe substantiated claims that included sexual harassment, according to an investigator appointed by the league.
‘For about three-and-a-half years while I was here, I managed,’ Rivera said last week. ‘Probably the last five weeks, I’ve coached. Getting back and doing the defensive coordinator stuff was a thrill.’
Rivera, a defensive head coach, and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio struggled to sort out a defense that was particularly vulnerable to giving up big plays in 2023. The Commanders finished the season last in scoring defense (30.5 points allowed per game) and yards surrendered (388.9). Washington allowed at least 27 points in each of their last eight games. At the Oct. 31 trade deadline, Washington dealt away both of its marquee defensive ends in Montez Sweat (to the Chicago Bears) and Chase Young (to the San Francisco 49ers). Rivera fired Del Rio and defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer following a 45-10 Thanksgiving Day loss to the Cowboys.
A revolving door at quarterback throughout his time also proved troublesome for the coach. Alex Smith started in 2020 and was named Comeback Player of the Year, but the veteran’s calf injury paved the way for Taylor Heinicke, who started in the wild-card game against the eventual champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers that postseason. Heinicke took over again the next season when free agent Ryan Fitzpatrick was injured in the first half of the team’s opening contest. And the next free-agent addition, Carson Wentz, was benched for Heinicke in 2022.
Rivera, 62, had recently tried to tie his job security to the development of current quarterback Sam Howell, a 2022 fifth-round draft pick who showed promise (leading the league in completions and passing yards) and cause for concern (a league-high 21 interceptions and 65 sacks taken).
Rivera also faced personal hardship upon taking the Commanders job in 2020. He was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma that summer and would go to extraordinary lengths in order to attend practices and games.
‘I’d like to think we’re in a better place, probably a fair way to say it,’ Rivera said last week. ‘I most certainly do appreciate my time here.’
A nine-year NFL linebacker and member of the 1986 Bears Super Bowl team, Rivera entered coaching in 1997 with Chicago. He coached under Andy Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999-2003 and was defensive coordinator for the Bears (2004-2006) and the then-San Diego Chargers (2008-2010).
In 2011, the Carolina Panthers made Rivera head coach, and he became the third Latino in league history to hold the position. He was the 2013 and 2015 AP Coach of the Year, and the Panthers made it to the Super Bowl in Cam Newton’s 2015 MVP season. He was fired following Week 13 of the 2019 season, Carolina owner David Tepper’s second season in charge.