It’s an old cliché that it’s never good for an NFL head coach when the guy who hired him leaves the company.
Coach Ron Rivera of the Washington Commanders believes this is the case. The Commanders (4-8) have dropped three straight games, the most recent being a 45-10 thrashing by the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day. Rivera sacked defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio last week, but that act may have merely postponed the inevitable.
According to CBS Sports, the Commanders are in last position in the NFC East, and new owner Josh Harris has “widely assumed” that he will part ways with Rivera at the end of the 2023 season.
Following the Commanders’ loss against the Cowboys, Harris delivered a statement. Harris was “disappointed and frustrated,” he added, adding that “we have not been good enough” this season.
Harris intimated that he intends to make big changes inside the organization after the season, “intently evaluating the areas in which we need to improve.” Harris will depict himself as an owner who does not make fast, knee-jerk choices and who will take time to evaluate and make changes by waiting until after the season.
Rivera was hired by former owner Dan Snyder, not by Harris. Harris has no links to Rivera and may prefer a coach that more properly matches his own vision for the team.
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