Update: What kind of job has Ron Rivera done so far?
April 5, 2022
By Steve Thomas
I did an evaluation of Washington Redskins WFT Washington Commanders Washington head coach Ron Rivera back in December, 2020, which was three weeks shy of the end of his first season with the team (click here to read). Since I didn’t revisit this topic at the end of the season, now seemed like a good time as any to update that previous effort and try to do an unbiased fresh look at Rivera’s job performance. As was the case last time, I’m going to try to be as analytical and “down the middle” as possible. My grades for each area below are just my subjective wag at a grade and are not based on any data or calculations. Feel free to give your own.
Background
As everyone knows, Rivera began his NFL career as a linebacker with the Chicago Bears, who drafted him out of the University of California in the second round of the 1984 draft. Rivera played through the 1992 season, playing in 137 games, starting 56. In his career, he had 392 tackles, 7.5 career sacks, and 9 interceptions. Rivera began his career as a coach in 1997 as a quality control coach for the Bears. He was named the linebackers coach for the Philadelphia Eagles under head coach Andy Reid in 1999. Rivera became the defensive coordinator for the Bears in 2004, where he stayed through 2007 when he moved to the San Diego Chargers as their inside linebackers coach. San Diego promoted him to defensive coordinator in 2008. The Carolina Panthers hired him to be their head coach in 2011, where he stayed until week 13 of the 2019 season. During that time, he accumulated a record of 76 – 63 – 1, 3 NFC South titles, and one Super Bowl appearance following the 2015 season.
Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder hired him as Washington’s head coach on January 1, 2020.
In retrospect, Rivera doesn’t have the career winning record that you’d ideally want. He’s had just 3 winning seasons in 11 as a head coach. Other than that, though, Rivera is extremely qualified and in my view was objectively the best hire of 2020 at the time the decision was made. That having been said, I’ve downgraded his grade to an A- to better reflect his head coaching success level.
Prior grade: A+
Updated grade: A-
Draft Choices
This was Washington’s 2020 draft, over which Rivera presided:
Rd 1 pick 2: Chase Young, DE, Ohio St.
Rd 3, pick 2: Antonio Gibson, RB, Memphis
Rd 4, pick 2: Saahdiq Charles, OT, LSU
Rd 4, pick 36: Antonio Gandy-Golden, WR, Liberty
Rd 5, pick 10: Keith Ismael, C, San Diego St.
Rd 5, pick 16: Khaleke Hudson, LB, Michigan
Rd 7, pick 2: Kamren Curl, S, Arkansas
Rd 7, pick 15: James Smith-Williams, DE, North Carolina St.
This was Washington’s 2021 draft:
Rd 1, pick 19: Jamin Davis, LB, Kentucky
Rd 2, pick 51: Samuel Cosmi, T, Texas
Rd 3, pick 74: Benjamin St-Juste, CB, Minnesota
Rd 3, pick 82: Dyami Brown, WR, North Carolina
Rd 4, pick 124: John Bates, TE, Boise St.
Rd 5, pick 163: Darrick Forrest, S, Cincinnati
Rd 6, pick 225: Camaron Cheeseman, LS, Michigan
Rd 6, pick 240: William Bradley-King, DE, Baylor
Rd 6, pick 246: Shaka Toney, DE, Penn St.
Rd 7, pick 258: Dax Milne, WR, Brigham Young
Of the 2020 picks, we need to be honest and admit that Young’s 2021 campaign, which started poorly and ended in ACL tear disaster, at least raises the question of whether he’s going to live up to the enormous hype that surrounds him. Similarly, the performance of 2020 third round pick Gibson also took a nose dive in 2021, as measured by yards per carry, so I now have questions about his long-term viability as well. Keith Ismael has showed some promise. The star of the 2020 draft class, though, is obviously Curl, who rose from round 7 project to solid starter.
Of the 2021 group, Davis disappointed. Cosmi seems like the best shot at a long-term starter. St-Juste and Bates both showed promise, and Cheeseman eventually rose to the long snapping challenge. That having been said, nobody in this group jumped out to demonstrate elite potential.
Prior grade: A-
Updated grade: B-
Offseason and free agency
Certainly, the 2020 offseason program was a total wash thanks to the Coronavirus-related shutdown. Rivera therefore gets a pass for that time period.
However, he does not get a pass for the 2021 offseason. The big free agent signings were receiver Curtis Samuel, who was injured much of the year and didn’t do much on the rare occasion when he saw the field, and corner William Jackson III. Samuel is a total bust thusfar. Jackson had his ups and downs, but at least looked for the most part like a legitimate starting corner. Other than those two, Rivera made basically no effort to bring in elite-level talent other than receiver Amari Cooper and left what appeared at the time to be obvious, gaping roster holes in the offensive line, running back group, tight ends, and receiver corps. The offensive line ended up being fairly highly rated by most measures, but the running back and receiving groups left something to be desired.
Washington hasn’t made a big splash this offseason either, although to be fair that isn’t always necessary in order to have a successful offseason. However, in this case, Rivera and company chose to let Brandon Scherff walk, which was understandable given the financial reality of the situation, but they also have made no attempt whatsoever to replace him. Swapping out Ereck Flowers for Andrew Norwell was a good, financially sound move, but it does nothing for the right guard spot. The team is lacking a starting-quality middle linebacker and hasn’t done anything to address that need. Washington has made no effort to shore up the receiver group other than to bring back Cam Sims. They’ve also thusfar ignored DeAndre Carter, who was the best returner the team has had in a while and contributed far more on offense than expected. The team overpaid for quarterback Carson Wentz given that Washington also had to eat his entire salary. There was some logic to the move, in that it kept Washington from having to compete for someone on the free agent market.
Prior Grade: B+
Updated Grade: C-. Rivera hasn’t made enough of an effort to upgrade the roster, and the moves he’s made haven’t always worked out.
Comparison to his peers
Five NFL teams hired new head coaches in the 2020 offseason, including Washington. The others were Joe Judge with the New York Giants, Mike McCarthy with the Cowboys, Matt Rhule with Rivera’s old team, the Carolina Panthers, and Kevin Stefanski with the Cleveland Browns. Judge has already been fired, but here are the combined 2020 and 2021 win-loss records of the rest of them:
Stefanski / Cleveland Browns: 19 – 14 (2020: 3rd; 2021: 4th, tied)
McCarthy / Dallas Cowboys: 18 – 15 (2020: 3rd; 2021: 1st)
Rivera / Washington: 14 – 19 (2020: 1st; 2021: 3rd)
Rhule / Carolina Panthers: 10 – 23 (2020: 3rd; 2021: 4th)
By this measurement, Rivera is third behind the Stefanski and McCarthy. Cleveland and Dallas both have better offensive talent than did Washington, but to Stefanski’s credit, quarterback Baker Mayfield wasn’t exactly a sure-thing franchise quarterback coming out of 2020, although he looks marginally better now. Stefanski has done well. Rhule isn’t working with much in Carolina. McCarthy isn’t the second coming of Vince Lombardi, but he did have a slew of injuries in 2020 and won the division in 2021. Still, though: is McCarthy a good head coach? Personally, I think Dallas may be better off without him than with him, and that he’s only in Dallas because he gets along with Jerry Jones, meaning, he knows how to properly suck up to one of the world’s greatest narcissists. Regardless, it’s hard to argue with results.
Here is a list of each team’s offensive and defensive rankings for 2020 and 2021, sorted by total yards:
Offense for 2020 and 2021:
Dallas: 12 / 1
Cleveland: 11 / 18
Washington: 30 / 21
Carolina: 19 / 30
Defense:
Carolina: 21 / 2
Cleveland: 19 / 5
Dallas: 23 / 19
Washington: 4 / 22
Washington took a small step up on offense and a large step back on defense between 2020 and 2021. Dallas had the top offense in the league in 2021, as measured by yards gained, and made a small improvement on defense. Carolina got far worse on offense, but ended up with the second-ranked defense in the league as measured by yardage surrendered. Subjectively, Rivera is probably ranked third or fourth in comparison to his 2020 hiring class. Washington hasn’t done anything spectacular, on either side of the ball, and took a big step back on defense.
Prior Grade: A
Updated Grade: C. The team did not make the strides expected in 2021.
Game and Roster Management
Rivera’s 2021 offense was mostly unsuccessful, and that wasn’t just due to player performance. The playcalling was unimaginative and predictable. Granted, that is Scott Turner’s direct responsibility, but at the end of the day Rivera is the head coach, and he’s responsible. Rivera hasn’t looked like anything innovative, creative, or on the cutting edge since he’s been in DC. Injuries and coronavirus-related silliness definitely took their toll this season, but in spite of all of that, Rivera’s team – in particular, the offense, has looked more like an anachronism than something on the cutting edge.
From a roster management standpoint, there was less chaos in 2021 than the prior year simply due to the stability at quarterback. This stability was a bit of an accident, mind you, resulting from the injury to Ryan Fitzpatrick in week one and Taylor Heinicke’s ability to take control of the job, but still: the things under Rivera’s control seemed better. Most of the instability this season was out of his control. He made some questionable decisions, such as refusing to use Cam Sims more, but in my view, Rivera played the roster hand he was dealt fairly well this season.
Prior Grade: B
Updated Grade: C
Messaging
Rivera’s public messaging was inconsistent in the early part of the 2020 season, sending confusion signals in press conferences about his choices, his players, and the direction of the team; however, that changed in the second half of the season. His messaging was fairly on point in 2021. Things weren’t perfect, but I have no strong complaints about 2021. He deserves big kudos for being able to navigate coronavirus shutdowns and staying out of the ongoing disaster in the front office, and for keeping the players out of it as well.
Prior Grade: C+
Updated Grade: B. I thought his messaging in 2021 was more “coachspeak” than in 2020, which was a benefit.
Intangibles
Finally, the intangibles. The 2020 version of Ron Rivera was a walking, talking bag of positive intangibles. He suffered through the most chaotic offseason and the worst front office mess imaginable with dignity, underwent chemotherapy for cancer during the season without missing a game, and seemingly has his players ready to do anything for him. He brought this team together in a way that hasn’t happened around these parts in a very long time, maybe since Joe Gibbs exited stage left. The 2021 wasn’t quite as strong however, as I didn’t get the sense that the team was quite as motivated and united as they were in 2020.
Prior Grade: A+
Updated Grade: A-. Rivera is no doubt a strong leader, but I thought his performance wasn’t at quite the same level as 2020.
Conclusion
The impact of the enormous amount of madness going on remains to be seen, but the bottom line is that Rivera needs to start showing significant improvement, or the rumors of his job being on the line
Prior Overall Grade: A-
Updated Overall Grade: C+. The bottom line is that the team hasn’t improved in results, and the roster isn’t noticeably better.
What do you think? Let me know in the comment section below.