WASHINGTON — Changes are coming for the Washington Commanders and everyone knows it.
The first big change came Friday when head coach Ron Rivera fired defensive coordinator, and longtime friend, Jack Del Rio who led the Washington Commanders to a dead-last ranking in points per game.
The moves came a day after the defense struggled again in a 45-10 Thanksgiving Day loss at the Dallas Cowboys. Washington allowed 290 or more yards in 11 of 12 games this season and 30 or more points seven times.
The Commanders' defense ranks 29th among 32 teams.
“Sometimes you get into a rut," Rivera said. "Sometimes things just kind of snowball, that snowball effect going downhill and just, you know, try to shake it up, see if something can be a little bit of a spark… I got a lot of respect for who Jack is. Jack has had a tremendous amount of success in this league as not just a player but as a coach. And, you know, you hate seeing that and you really do.”
Rivera cleared the change with the Commanders' new owner Josh Harris, a conversation he said went well.
“I mean, I just explained to them, look, this is something I think we need to do based on certain things that I've seen, and you know, we'd like to make that move," he explained. "I just told them, I said it's something that I feel can potentially shake some things up and maybe see what happens."
Rivera now gets to call the defense against the No. 1 offense in the NFL in Miami when the Commanders go up against the Dolphins at FedEx Field on Sunday, Dec. 3.
Before we ended our conversation, I asked the head coach about former Washington safety Sean Taylor on the 16th anniversary of the player's death. Taylor was killed during an attempted robbery at his Florida home. He was just 24 years old, and left behind his long-time girlfriend Jackie Garcia and a young daughter, also named Jackie.
I wondered about Taylor's legacy from someone who coached against him.
“Oh, I just think of high impact player," Rivera said. "I mean, that's why he was on the defensive side for this franchise from what I saw. As a coach, you're always looking for that guy. That can be a difference maker that can impact the game. That's who Sean Taylor was for this organization. He was a high-impact player. And if he had finished out his career, would he have been a Hall of Famer? Without a doubt. I believe if he was going to continue the way he played. Yes.”
WUSA9 will sit down with Commanders Head Coach Ron Rivera every Monday throughout the 2023-2024 season. The one-on-one moments will premiere on WUSA9 at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. and again on Get Up DC every Tuesday morning. The full interview between Rivera and Chick Hernandez will be available on WUSA9+