The Ron Rivera era in Redskins Park has officially begun, and coaches from the previous regime are starting to learn their fates.
Ron Rivera was brought in by Dan Snyder to institute a culture overhaul of the Washington Redskins franchise. Whether he’ll be able to pull that off remains to be seen; it usually takes several years to instill a new culture into an organization. But Rivera will lay the groundwork in the coming days, with coaching staff finalizations.
Rumors as to who Rivera will include as his offensive and defensive coordinators have run rampant over the past few days. Earlier this morning, it was confirmed that Jack Del Rio will be the team’s defensive coordinator, and now, we have confirmation that Kevin O’Connell is staying on as the team’s offensive coordinator. Rivera kept four assistant coaches in addition to O’Connell, as sports reporter Julie Donaldson listed in the tweet below:
Getting it right, Take 2: I am told all but 5 coaches were released. Here is who stays: OC Kevin O’Connell, RB Randy Jordan, ST Nate Kaczor, Weight Coach. #httr #ronrivera #redskins @NBCSWashington
— Julie Donaldson (@juliedonaldson_) January 1, 2020
According to Donaldson, all but five Redskins coaches were released from their previous roles. Rivera kept offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell, running backs coach Randy Jordan, special teams coordinator Nate Kaczor, the team’s weight coach, and one other coach that was left unspecified by Donaldson.
Notable losses include wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard, interim head coach and offensive line coach Bill Callahan, defensive line coach Jim Tomsula, and defensive coordinator Greg Manusky. Although transactions are still coming in, it’s reasonable to assume that Tomsula is gone, as his relationship with Greg Manusky was one reason he stayed with the team in 2019.
For the most part, the retainments by Rivera make sense. O’Connell is the most inspiring one; he helped glean growth from Dwayne Haskins over the latter course of the 2019 season, and showed flashes of creativity as a play caller. Without the influence of Bill Callahan, he’ll have a chance to put his stamp on the offense.
Randy Jordan and Nate Kaczor are also sensible coaches to keep. Jordan helped Adrian Peterson prolong his production with the Redskins, and also helped develop Derrius Guice in his second season. Kaczor was originally met with skepticism when he was hired, but he helped turn Steven Sims Jr. into one of the most dynamic return threats in the league, and helped Tress Way earn his first Pro Bowl bid.
As NBC Sports’ J.P. Finlay noted, more changes are due to be made official, and more coaches could be kept. Stick with us, as we’ll keep you updated.