Is it time? Just three games into the season? Is it really time? Of course it is. These are the Washington Commanders under Daniel M. Snyder – and it’s always time to be looking for your next head coach.
Snyder has owned the franchise since 1999 and in that time, he has had ten head coaches. This ain’t exactly Pittsburgh Steeler-style stability. He inherited his first coach, and has bounced back and forth between venerable commodities like Joe and Marty, and first-timers like Jimmy Z and Jay. There was the celebrity dalliance with the old ball coach. Fact is, none, other than Jay Gruden, have made it past four years, and none, other than Joe Gibbs, left on his own terms.
Ron Rivera has just begun his third season. He is approaching the median life span of a head coach in the Snyder era. And his team is coming off some embarrassing performances.
Yeah, it’s time.
Here is a list of names – ranked in my own personal order of preference – for Daniel Snyder’s eleventh head coach for your Washington Commanders:
Ranking potential Ron Rivera replacements for the Commanders
15. Shane Waldron, Seahawks OC
I know what you’re thinking. Seattle has the least dynamic offense in the league. I don’t fault Waldron for that. I fault his boss Pete Carroll. Before coming to Seattle in 2021, Waldron served his apprenticeship under wunderkind Sean McVay. He was in Washington in 2016, then went with McVay to the Rams where he was the passing game coordinator. He also began his coaching career under that guy Belichick up in New England. Waldron is 43, and if you are a bandwagon-jumper looking for the next young offensive genius, Waldron just might your guy.
14. Ejiro Evero, Broncos DC
Did you watch the Broncos/49ers game last week? Both defenses were dominant. Eviro is 41 and in his first year as a coordinator. Normally, that might scare me off a bit. But his pedigree is stellar, coaching defenses for San Fran, Green Bay, and the Rams for the past decade. It is highly likely that the next coach will come from the ranks of current coordinators – most do these days. And though there are probably more candidates coming from the offensive side of the ball, I personally value defensive coaches a little more highly. (SPOILER ALERT – I will be coming back to this at the end.)
13. Joe Lombardi, Chargers OC
Another offensive guy, Lombardi is 51. Though I will have a few names on here even older, that is a factor. 51 is not exactly ancient, but you do want a guy who – hopefully – will stick around for a decade or more. The argument for Lombardi is that he worked closely with Matthew Stafford and Drew Brees throughout the 2010s, and now he is helping to develop Justin Herbert. This man has a very good track record with the most important position on the team. Who better to develop Sam Howell. Oh, and in case you were wondering – he is indeed part of THAT Lombardi family. Vince was his grandpa.
12. Dabo Swinney, Clemson head coach
I’m only going to have three other current college coaches on this list. Dabo is one of two without NFL experience. In general, I think that is a terrible idea, and recent history backs me up. But he is a little different. He’s 52 and has proven he can build an elite college program. Right now, that program has dipped a little bit and might it be the right time to see if he wants a shot at the NFL? He’s a longshot, but he’s on my list.
11. Leslie Frazier, Bills DC/Assistant head coach
Frazier is 63, far and away the oldest coach on my list. And there are some who would say his mostly unsuccessful stint as head coach of the Vikings a decade ago makes him damaged goods. I’ll just say this – Leslie Frazier is a great, great defensive football coach. He deserved another shot years ago, and I would love to see him get one here. Fans might want a hotter name, or a coach with a profile radically different from Ron Rivera. But you could do a whole lot worse than having Leslie Frazier running your team.
10. Matt Campbell, Iowa State head coach
This is one of my two biggest “feel” candidates. I just look at Matt Campbell and I see a guy who can run an NFL team. Only 42, he has ten years of head coaching experience at Toledo and Iowa State. He built excellent programs at two off-the-radar schools, winning conference Coach of the Year honors four times in ten years. There is another intangible that I really like about Campbell. On multiple occasions, he has turned down offers to go to bigger, prestige programs because of the loyalty he felt to finishing the job at his current school. That being said, I have no idea if he is even looking for a shot at the NFL. If he is, he is worthy of serious consideration.
9. Eric Bienemy, Chiefs OC
Bienemy has been at the top of everyone’s list for the past five years, so this is rather low for a coach of his stature. He is 53 and beginning to fight the distressing realization that his time may have come and gone while younger offensive “geniuses” snapped up all the jobs. The knock against Bienemy has been that with Andy Reid as head coach, his contributions as offensive coordinator are difficult to discern, and with Patrick Mahomes as quarterback, your grandmother could design offenses that generated 30 points a game. Both are unfair, but they persist. I think Bienemy will still get his shot, He certainly deserves it.
8. P.J. Fleck, University of Minnesota head coach
Fleck built Western Michigan into a MAC power very quickly. It is taking a little longer in the ultra-competitive Big Ten, but he is having plenty of success at Minnesota as well. He is just 41, and unlike the two previous college coaches on this list, Fleck does have NFL experience, both as a player and as a coach. That experience only amounts to a few years, but it can be invaluable. He knows what goes on in an NFL locker room. He has taken Minnesota to three Bowl games in five years (only missing in his first season and in the COVID-impacted 2020.) And he has won all three, beating teams from the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 along the way.
7. Ryan Day, Ohio State head coach
This is my reach. But if you want to take a stab at a highly successful college coach, I’d like one who is just 43 and has some NFL coaching experience on his resume. Day worked with the quarterbacks in Philadelphia and San Francisco before going to the Buckeyes. He has won over 90% of his games coaching against elite competition in the Big 10.
6. Byron Leftwich, Buccaneers OC
How much credit do you get for winning a Super Bowl with Tom Brady? Well, if you’re Josh McDaniels, you apparently get two shots at being a head coach. I would think Leftwich deserves at least one. He is 42 now and in prime position to get that shot. Plus, he is a local, having grown up in DC and starring at H.D. Woodson High School. Leftwich has apprenticed under Bruce Arians, who brought Leftwich with him from Arizona. When Arians resigned, defensive coordinator Todd Bowles – who also has Washington ties and would have been a strong candidate here – was promoted to the top spot. Bowles kept Leftwich in place. This year, with continual Brady drama and a depleted offensive lineup, may prove crucial for Leftwich. If he can get the offense back in gear, he will very likely get a head coaching job in 2023. If he can’t, he will slip off some radars.
5. Raheem Morris, Rams DC
Morris was Washington’s defensive backs coach from 2012-2014. Then he went to Atlanta as an assistant head coach before landing in LA. And before that, he was the head coach for Tampa Bay. Morris’ record in Tampa was just 21-38, but he did manage to go 10-6 one season, with Josh Freeman as his quarterback. At 46, and with extensive experience on both sides of the ball, Morris is primed for another shot.
4. Shane Steichen, Eagles OC
I’ll admit it – I am just as prone to the hype as anyone else. Steichen is 37, and he will quickly become one of the hottest commodities out there – the next young offensive genius. He already has extensive NFL coaching experience with the Chargers, working with both Philip Rivers and Justin Herbert. What he has done in a little more than year in Philadelphia has been miraculous – helping transform an old, slow boring offense into one of the most dynamic in the league. I think it’s almost a given that he will be an NFL head coach within the next two years. He has NFC East knowledge that could be very useful as well. (More on that soon.)
3. Greg Roman, Ravens OC
Roman just turned 50. He has extensive NFL experience coaching virtually every offensive position group and serving as a coordinator for almost a decade. Like Shane Steichen, he has been instrumental in turning a stagnant offense into a dynamic one, built around Lamar Jackson. Plus, he kind of resembles Brian Daboll, who seems to be doing quite well in his first year with the Giants. Then again, I’m very bad at facial recognition.
2. Jonathan Gannon, Eagles DC
My top two choices are defensive coordinators. There is an argument to be made for shifting away from the current coach – the more defensive-minded Ron Rivera – to grab someone to fix the offense. But I don’t agree with that. This team has invested quite a bit in its defense. If it is going to be good in the next 3-5 years, it needs to get that defense playing at the very high level. We all saw what Gannon did to the Washington Commanders last week. They had more sacks than points allowed. He is just 39 but has been coaching defenses in the NFL for more than a decade. Gannon is intense and analytical. He is not reckless. He does not blitz a lot. But his results are undeniable. Much like the Cincinnati Bengals of ten years ago – where both offensive coordinator Jay Gruden and defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer landed head coaching jobs, Philadelphia could easily lose both of its coordinators in the next year or two.
1. Demeco Ryans, 49ers DC
You will have to spend high for Ryans. The 38-year old is at the top of virtually everyone’s wish list. He will be a head coach in 2023. Barring a miraculous turn-around by Ron Rivera et al, I am hoping that job will be in Washington. Unlike Gannon, Ryans’ passion is obvious from a mile away. His defenses swarm. They attack. And they get results. Ryans has only been coaching for five years, but he had a 10-year career as an NFL player before that. No one is ever “can’t miss,” but I would roll the dice with Ryans ahead of anyone else out there.
There are plenty of other names worthy of consideration. By the end of the season, a few more assistants will go viral. If this were 2020, Commanders defensive backs coach Chris Harris would be prominently featured on any such list. He may still be the second best sub-coordinator level coach out there. (trailing only Jerrod Mayo, the heir apparent to the Belichick throne in New England.) But recent catastrophes in the Commanders secondary have slowed Harris’ ascension, and should the team jettison Rivera, it is likely to make a clean sweep of the entire staff.
Former coaches like Brian Flores and Vance Joseph could be on your list. They are not on mine – for entirely different reasons. I wouldn’t touch Cowboys coordinators Dan Quinn or Kellen Moore, also for entirely different reasons. Thomas Brown, Brian Callahan, Aaron Glenn, and Patrick Graham all interviewed for top spots last year. The truth is, there are plenty of candidates.
The Commanders have been hamstrung by their owner for more than 20 years. Any young coach coming in will need enough savvy and enough character to keep Daniel Snyder at bay. And Snyder’s questionable standing with the league as a whole further complicates matters. But that rarely keeps an eager young coach from accepting a head coaching job in the NFL.
Washington has had multiple HOF coaches – from Flaherty to Allen to Gibbs. Lombardi coached here. So did Mike Shanahan. We all know there are plenty of problems plaguing the current set-up. But there is also tremendous opportunity. If they choose the right coach for the job.