Players who have been a part of Ron Rivera-coached teams rave about their relationship with him. They talk at length about how he cares for his players in a business that often treats them as disposable commodities.
That loyalty made Rivera a beloved figure in Charlotte, where he led the Panthers to their first Super Bowl appearance. It also sowed the seeds of his downfall in Washington.
Rivera will almost certainly coach his final game with the Commanders on Sunday, ending a four-year stretch in which the team never posted a winning record.
What went wrong?
Based on interviews with people inside the building, and those who know the coach well, here are some of the major things:
He couldn’t be himself: Rivera was dealt two immediate blows after taking over the Commanders. He had to work through the COVID-19 season, where meetings took place on Zoom and players couldn’t do things like eat lunch together.
He then was diagnosed with cancer, a year-long fight that left him largely sapped of energy and unable to participate in the ways he normally does.
Both setbacks prevented Rivera from giving all of himself, the one thing his most successful teams thrived on. Instead, the team was largely run by defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and offensive coordinator Scott Turner, picks that would prove to be a mistake in hindsight.
Emptying the cupboard: Rivera’s love is a two-way street: Players are expected to be loyal to his approach and not question or deviate from it.
That insistence on culture building led Rivera to import to Washington several veterans from his Panthers teams — though those Carolina teams in recent years were nothing spectacular. Rivera wouldn’t budge or make accommodations for Washington players he felt weren’t all-in on his approach.
Notably, he wouldn’t enter negotiations with left tackle Trent Williams, who was due for a contract renegotiation and ultimately left for San Francisco. He also let offensive linemen Morgan Moses and Brandon Scherff leave the building, as well as defensive linemen Ryan Kerrigan and Chase Young.
Draft failures: That level of turnover would have been fine if it had been accompanied by strong acquisitions, but Rivera, who was given full control of personnel decisions, has largely missed on his biggest swings.
None of his four first-round draft picks have been an impact player, and some of his biggest free-agent signings, including quarterback Carson Wentz and cornerback William Jackson III, never came close to their potential for the Commanders.
Facing a dearth of talent on the offensive line this year, Rivera waited until the third round to draft one and didn’t make any major moves in free agency, holding the team back in a make-or-break season.
Loyalty to assistants: Evidence began to pile up quickly that Jack Del Rio wasn’t getting the most out of a Commanders defense that was talented on paper, but rarely on the field.
A third-year surge, largely against subpar competition, kept Del Rio around for a fourth year, but even with an opening-day roster that featured six first-round picks, the results weren’t there. Back-to-back embarrassing losses to the Giants and Cowboys ultimately forced Rivera’s hand, but it’s a move the head coach, known for his loyalty, made only reluctantly.
The same could be said for Scott Turner, another coach who followed Rivera from Charlotte, but who was unable to coax Washington’s offense into wins over the Giants or Browns with the playoffs on the line in 2022.
Rivera’s legacy: When Mike Shanahan was fired as the coach at the end of the 2013 season, he said in a statement that he felt the team was better off than when he took over in Ashburn.
Rivera was asked the same question Tuesday afternoon, and cited the team’s culture as being an area that is markedly improved.
“I kind of like where we are,” he said of the team. “You know, it’s obviously not where we want to be, but that’s just the nature of this game sometimes.”
Rivera’s steady hand was unquestionably an asset as the franchise went through a tumultuous period, with owner Dan Snyder investigated, then ultimately bought out by a group led by Josh Harris.
It’s possible no coach could have fielded a winner during that time.
In the end, Rivera is likely to be remembered as somebody who kept the squad from descending into chaos during some of the franchise’s darkest days, though ultimately not somebody who was able to build a winning team amid adverse conditions.
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