The writing is so clearly on the wall for Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera that players on the team are well aware his job is on the line over the next six games and believe that chances are he won’t be able to save it by the end of the season.
When the Washington Commanders hired Ron Rivera before the 2020 season, the hope was that he could bring some of the winning culture he was able to achieve with the Carolina Panthers when he led the team to three double-digit win seasons and a trip to the Super Bowl in 2015. However, that has not at all been the case over his first three and a half seasons in D.C.
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While Rivera was given the space to help develop a new culture over the first two seasons, the expectations certainly increased by year three. When the team finished with an 8-8-1 record and was in the playoff hunt late into the 2022 season, there was hope the official turnaround of the team’s fortunes had begun. But this season they have taken steps back.
Washington Commanders record (2023): 4-7
The Commanders enter Week 12 with a 4-7 record and likely one winnable game left on a schedule that includes two matchups with the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, and San Francisco 49ers. Unsurprisingly, there has been a great deal of speculation in recent weeks that the organization’s new ownership group will pull the plug on the Rivera era and pick their first head coach in 2024.
Well, it seems it isn’t just those around the organization who believe a head coach change is coming at the end of the year. On Tuesday, ESPN Washington Commanders reporter John Keim revealed that after the team’s frustrating Week 11 loss to the struggling New York Giants, “Players are aware of the situation [with Rivera’s future], with one saying privately that they’re aware Rivera’s job status is on the line — and trending poorly.”
Ron Rivera has a 26-34-1 record as the head coach of the Washington Commanders, and if the team can not win three of their next six, 2023 would be his worst finish leading the team.