The 2019 NFL football season is finally over, and we finished at a disgraceful 3-13 for the season—It was an agonizing and miserable season, one of the worst that I can remember in my close to 30 years as a Redskins fan.
Throughout the whole season, there was a massive outcry for Snyder to fire Bruce Allen, and to make drastic changes to the power structure at Redskins Park. Our wishes became a reality on Monday morning when Snyder issued a statement announcing the firing of Bruce Allen. This decision was at least eight years overdue, but I’m glad that it is finally a reality, and we can begin the process of rebooting this historic franchise.
Within hours of announcing the removal of Bruce Allen, sports media was buzzing about the arrival of Ron Rivera in the DC area to meet with Dan Snyder. There was plenty of speculation regarding a fast-moving hiring process to secure Ron Rivera as our new Head Coach, and as of today, right at the start of the new year, Ron Rivera is the new Head Coach of the Washington Redskins. This hire is a very bold and exciting move. Rivera is also the first minority Head Coach in the history of the Redskins, and the first Latino Head Coach to be precise, which is refreshing and remarkable considering the demographics of the DC area. We finally have a coach that will reflect our community. Ron Rivera is a defensive-minded coach and a no-nonsense type of coach. Discipline and accountability will be emphasized under his leadership. He is someone who can immediately create a culture of change at Redskins Park. An entire overhaul of the coaching staff is in order, starting with the defensive staff. Hiring Jack Del Rio as a Defensive Coordinator is a terrific move. Greg Manusky had no clue how to best maximize the skills of our vast pool of high drafted and talented players on this roster. His defensive schemes were terrible and, at most times, predictable. Offensively, I hope they keep Kevin O’Connell as our offensive coordinator; he has been instrumental in the development of Dwayne Haskins. It was sad that we could not keep Bill Callahan around as the offensive Line coach, but I heard he would like to coach next to his son, who is currently the offensive coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals. I wish him the best, he is a great coach.
After listening to Rivera doing media rounds and shedding some light into the process that got him this job, you get the sense that Snyder had his eyes on Rivera for a while. The discreet meetings between Rivera and Joe Gibbs are particularly insightful. It shows how much emphasis and care went into this process. I feel great about this hire and the possibilities ahead for our relatively young football team. Reaching out to Trent Williams is a priority, especially since the Head trainer Larry Hess has also been fired. There have been multiple complaints about Hess and the training staff in the last few years. Trent Williams sat out the whole 2019 season due to his grievances with the training staff. Players took longer to recover from injuries that would typically take less time to come back.
The work ahead for the new regime in Redskins park will be tough; they have ten years of Bruce Allen to undo. But, it seems Rivera has a clear picture of the road ahead, and he is up to the task of rebuilding not only the team and the culture, but also the excitement of the entire fan base.
And now lets get ready for some NFL playoffs……
Rod Rioja 