Redskins Ron Rivera, Kyle Smith diligent in their preparation for 2020
By Ian Cummings
It may be the offseason, but there will be no days off for the ones tasked with revamping the Redskins organization.
When the Washington Redskins hired Ron Rivera to be their next head coach in the infancy stages of 2020, they thrust upon him an inherent challenge: To turn around decades of dysfunction, and bring a once-storied franchise back to the NFL postseason.
The desired outcome for this hire won’t be attained overnight; it will require lots of patience, hard work, and waiting. But Ron Rivera wasted no time putting together his staff in D.C., and that same staff is reportedly being very diligent in its preparation for the rest of the offseason, and by extension, the 2020 regular season.
According to NBC Sports Mid-Atlantic’s J.P. Finlay, who recently spoke on the Redskins Talk Podcast, Redskins head coach Ron Rivera and Vice President of Player Personnel Kyle Smith are making the most of the time they have before March and April. Here’s the quote from Finlay:
“It’s my understanding that Ron Rivera and Kyle Smith are meeting at least every day, if not twice a day, right now as they go through their full evaluation process.”
It’s refreshing to hear about this kind of thoroughness from a head coach and a Redskins front office executive. Too often, Washington’s direction in the past was defined by vague statements from Bruce Allen. Now, at least from the evidence Finlay has provided, it appears as though the team is no longer resting on its limited laurels, but instead working to earn new ones.
Even more comforting, perhaps, is the collaboration between old and new. There was concern that, in his purge of the organization, Rivera might filter out promising pieces that had been overshadowed by past dysfunction. His embrace and respect for Kyle Smith is proof that Rivera could see past that dysfunction in certain cases. Smith played a crucial role in building the team’s young core, and it’s encouraging to hear that he’s taking on a larger role in the latest rebuild.
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Whether the Redskins rebuild effort will pay off in 2020 remains to be seen, but head coach Ron Rivera, a man who loves a good project, isn’t wasting any time getting started on his next one.