Vincent Frank
Ron Rivera and the Washington Commanders started out this season strong, winning two consecutive against lowly competition in that of the Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos.
Since then, it’s been completely downhill for Washington. It has dropped four of five, including an ugly 14-7 loss to the previously one-win New York Giants last week.
This is now leading to speculation that Rivera could very well be the first in-season head coach firing around the NFL.
“Magic Johnson keeps calling the staff and team out,” a prominent agent told FanBuzz. “Makes you think Rivera’s on the hottest seat. And, it seems like Eric Bieniemy is already running the show there, anyway.”
Multiple league sources told Matt Lombardo of FanBuzz that Rivera will likely be the first head coach given his pink slip this season.
Johnson potentially spearheading the move to fire Rivera shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. He has a minority stake under the new ownership group led by Josh Harris and has been the most boisterous among them since they took over for the disgrace that is Daniel Snyder.
Related: Ron Rivera and NFL head coaches on the hot seat
Ron Rivera running out of time with the Washington Commanders
Including a 3-4 mark this season, the Commanders boast a 25-31-1 record since Rivera took over back in 2020. Given that they have a new ownership group which has no built-in relationship with Rivera, there is no sense of loyalty here.
As for Rivera, he fully acknowledges that things have to change in Washington moving forward this season. He also spoke out about fan frustration.
“I respect them. We’re trying to play the best football we can and at the same time grow a football team. We’re not gonna go around cutting a bunch of people, trading for a whole bunch of people, trying to hire a bunch of people. We’re trying to develop a young football team to be a very good football team for the future.”
Ron Rivera on recent Washington Commanders struggles
At issue here is that Rivera might not be around to oversee the future of the football team. First-year offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has been a head coach candidate in the past and could take over on an interim basis.
All of this talk surrounding Rivera’s job security also comes at a time with reports indicating that the Commanders are willing to listen to offers for pretty much every player on their roster ahead of the Oct. 31 NFL trade deadline.
This is the clearest indication yet that Washington’s brass is looking to shake things up as it moves forward from the Snyder era. Rivera would obviously be the first domino to fall.
