Washington Football Team: Is the culture starting to turn?

“You know, the culture is actually damn good.”

When former Washington Football Team president Bruce Allen said those infamous words last season, in the midst of an 0-5 start and right after the team fired Jay Gruden, the only thing fans could do was laugh. I don’t know if any other reaction could justify Allen’s stupidity. The culture was not “damn good” and in fact, you could describe it as toxic.

The culture wasn’t good under Mike Shanahan, as we are all familiar with the RGIII drama. The toxic environment didn’t change under Gruden either, as fans had to deal with Scot McCloughan being thrown under the bus, the team’s mishandling of Kirk Cousins, and the ugly departure of Trent Williams. Shall I go on?

When Ron Rivera was hired by the Washington Football Team, he said that he was going to focus on bringing a culture shift to the organization. We all know that new coaches always say that when they start a new role, but with Rivera, you could tell it was different.

Rivera’s previous players spoke highly of him and talked about how he commanded respect while also making the team feel like a family.

Although he doesn’t implement many rules, Rivera makes sure those that he does have are followed, which preaches accountability and discipline. For example, with the Panthers, he was typically “nice” and “mild-mannered,” but he would just as soon curse players out for being late.

In an interview with NBC Sports Washington, shortly after he was hired, Rivera talked about how he wanted to initiate the cultural shift with his new team: “One thing that I have said to a lot of the players I’ve talked with is we’re going to ask you to do it a specific way. You do it our way and we win, the praise is yours. If we do it our way and we lose, it’s my fault. I will take the responsibility.”

That ability to hold himself accountable allows Rivera to ask for the same from the Washington Football Team. This provides a refreshing change from the jovial environment under Gruden where there was no player accountability. Don’t get me wrong, the players liked Gruden, but it was clear that they did not respect him. Rivera commands that respect from his players.

Now, culture change is easy to talk about, but how do you back it up? How about cutting a second-round running back early in your tenure, which Rivera did with Derrius Guice? How about benching your former first-round pick QB for an undrafted free agent to show you mean business?

Reports say Dwayne Haskins had poor study habits and his preparation before games did not meet Rivera’s expectations. Haskins also was said to have been bragging about his stats after the Ravens game and didn’t admit to staring down receivers in post-game interviews. That lack of accountability and discipline led to him not only being benched, but being demoted to third-string.

That is how you send a message. That is how you start to implement a culture shift. Nobody is above the team, and Haskins’ benching proved that.

But it goes beyond that, not only with discipline, but with the confidence Rivera instills in his team with his actions. The oft-questioned decision to go for two at the end of the Giants game was to show the team he has faith in them.

I questioned the decision in the moment, but after seeing Rivera take accountability for it, saying it was his decision, I knew he was doing it to establish the culture.

Accountability. Discipline. Faith in your troops.

Does that sound like something a team will rally behind? It sure sounds like they are.

“He has confidence in his players, tells us every day how much he believes in us, that we’re going to get the job done and he backs it with his actions,” said Logan Thomas after the Giants loss.

After the Washington Football Team’s win against the Cowboys, Morgan Moses talked about how “the feeling in [the] building is different”, and how the culture has started to change.

“Because it becomes not a ‘me’ team, but team first,” said Moses.

Coach Rivera was asked about Moses’ comments and how he feels about the culture shift in his post-practice press conference on Thursday. He said he thinks the guys are buying in to how things need to be done and how they need to practice to prepare for games.

“I feel very comfortable and confident the guys understand what we want from them. And, as we go through this, we’re going to go through bumps, we’re going to go through some ups and downs, some really good periods, [and] some really low periods. But, it’s all a part of growing… and so I’m pretty excited about where we are right now.”

You and me both, Ron. Here’s to a great second half of the season.