The Washington Commanders are making changes to their coaching staff. On Friday, head coach Ron Rivera announced he had fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer. The moves come after the team lost the Dallas Cowboys 45-10 on Thanksgiving Day.
“I feel exactly how our fans feel today: disappointed and frustrated,” Commanders owner Josh Harris said in a statement. “It’s how our players and staff feel as well. I knew our first season of ownership would include challenges along the way, and we will not shy away from hard work, nor will we be deterred by adversity. As Coach Rivera and I discussed, all of our energy for the remainder of the season will be focused on playing better, more consistent football and developing our players while intently evaluating the areas in which we need to improve this offseason. Our fans deserve a team that can compete with the NFL’s best and win sustainably over the long term.”
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Rivera told reporters he will be calling the defensive plays for the rest of the season. “If you don’t change things, can you expect things to change?” Rivera said, per ESPN. “So that’s what I’m doing, to see if things will change.” Rivera added that he thought about making the moves “for a little bit” but the game against the Cowboys was the deciding factor as the defense allowed 38 points including 18 in the fourth quarter.
“I mean it’s not an indictment of Jack and Brent because those guys worked their asses off trying to get things right and trying to do things for us,” Rivera said. “It’s just, for whatever reason, it wasn’t coming together. We haven’t played as well as we would like to have this season. We’re all culpable, believe me. We all are, coaches and players as a group.”
Del Rio, 60, has been the defensive coordinator for the Commanders since the 2020 season, the same year Rivera was hired as head coach. He has been a head coach during his NFL career, serving as the head man with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2003-2011) and Oakland Raiders (2015-2017). Del Rio won a Super Bowl in 2000 when he was the linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens.
