It looks like the Washington Commanders are about to make their first head coaching change under new owner Josh Harris.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Commanders are expected to make a head coaching change following their Week 18 regular season finale against the Dallas Cowboys. Rivera has gone 26-39-1 over his four seasons as Washington’s head coach:
“Ron Rivera will be celebrating his 62nd birthday Sunday, and the organization would be wise to respect its coach’s birthday.
But changes are expected at some point early next week, according to league sources, which comes as a surprise to nobody.
New owner Josh Harris is expected to start over after paying $6.05 billion for the franchise last summer. Washington is expected to commence an exhaustive and comprehensive search to try to find the right people to help restore a franchise that has been one of the worst in the NFL over the past two-plus decades.”
The Rivera era got off to a promising start in 2020, when he led the club to an NFC East division crown despite a losing record (7-9). Washington gave Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers a scare in the Wild Card Round, but they wound up falling 31-23 in the Wild Card Round.
Washington never got back to the postseason again under Rivera, though they just missed out last season with an 8-8-1 record.
The two-time Coach of the Year went 76-63-1 over his nine seasons as head coach of the Carolina Panthers, leading them to three consecutive NFC South division titles (2013-2015) and a trip to Super Bowl 50.
