The Washington Commanders have gone through ups and downs since Ron Rivera took over as the head coach before the 2020 season.
Year one saw them go just 7-9, but they made the playoffs and almost shocked the eventual Super Bowl winners, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In year two, Washington went 7-10. Despite barely dropping their record, it was a clear step backward.
Then came 2022, and things started ugly. After winning their first game of the year, Washington dropped their next four. They’ve won four of their last five though and bounced back to a 5-5 record.
There has been a lot of negativity surrounding Washington and especially the coaching staff. Fans are tired of losing, and that’s fair. But with the Commanders turning things around at the moment, this feels like a perfect time to mention that Rivera has a lot of positives as well.
You can point to his risk-taking as refreshing, or his belief in certain players, maybe how he commands respect. There’s one trait that tops them all in my opinion though. Who he is as a person.
With everything going on with Dan Snyder and the team over the last few years, having a truly decent human higher-up in the organization feels more important than ever.
Having stability in the coaching staff is important for a winning organization. Winning games is going to keep a coaching staff together. But you also need them to be good people, good leaders.
You’re not going to hear too many stories about a coach sticking around for long after legal trouble, personal issues, or butting heads with all the players. Those are things you don’t have to worry about with Rivera.
Does he have his faults when it comes to coaching? Yes. Everyone does. There’s no such thing as the perfect coach. But he also appears to be a leader that the players will want to fight for. They love and respect him. The team wants to win for him and will go to war for him.
Ron Rivera is a great defensive-minded coach with little ego. Humble and kind, the type of coach that demands respect without ever actually asking for it. A lot of Washington Commanders fans have expressed their desire to move on from the Rivera era. And to be fair to them, the team has been mediocre under his reign so far.
With the team surging and Rivera continuously showing how good of a person he is. It feels like he deserves a couple more believers right about now.