Report: Jack Del Rio leading candidate for Redskins defensive coordinator job

Ron Rivera is starting to fill out his staff with the Washington Redskins. And it looks like his defensive coordinator target will be Jack Del Rio.

Ron Rivera agreed to a five-year deal to coach the Washington Redskins on Tuesday morning. And early in the hiring process, he is already starting to pursue some potential staffers.

Early reports indicate that Rivera is likely to keep Kevin O’Connell on board as the team’s offensive coordinator. But on the defensive side, it was less clear. Early reports indicated that Steve Wilks could rejoin Rivera after the two worked together in Carolina, but he reportedly isn’t coming.

Now, a top candidate has emerged. And it’s former Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders head coach, Jack Del Rio.

And Del Rio seemed to indicate that he’ll be returning to coaching soon in an early-morning tweet on New Year’s Eve.

With that said, it seems that Del Rio well could end up getting the job in Washington.

Del Rio would certainly qualify as an intriguing hire for the Redskins. He has always been an excellent defensive coordinator and would come to the team with 12 years of head coaching experience as well.

In 2002, Del Rio served as the Panthers defensive coordinator and led them to a No. 2 overall finish in yardage and a top-five finish in scoring defense. That was enough to get him the Jacksonville Jaguars coaching job which he held onto for nine years. During that time, had six defenses that finished top-10 in scoring, yardage, or both. His work was solid and it continued when he was a coordinator.

Del Rio was the architect behind an excellent Denver Broncos defense that transformed into one of the league’s best. In three years with Denver, he led the team to a top-five unit and a top-10 unit and helped them reach a Super Bowl. That was enough to get him hired by the Oakland Raiders, but he was fired after going 25-23 so the team could make a splash hire in Jon Gruden.

Del Rio runs a 4-3 defense so that would indicate that the Redskins are serious about changing to that scheme. He could help coach up the team’s linebackers, since he was one back in the day, and surely, he would find a way to maximize the team’s defensive talent as he has at all of his stops.

We’ll see if Del Rio does, in fact, end up being the guy. But safe to say, he would be a nice hire for the Redskins. He’s an experienced, solid defensive coordinator who will be refreshed and ready to go after two years out of the league.