“You are good at building, but are you good at coaching?”
That was a question Craig Hoffman asked concerning Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera during the first hour of his The Team 980 Tuesday drive-home program.
Buy Commanders TicketsHoffman spoke of the dream of many Commanders fans being that Ron Rivera will not have a job at the end of this 2023 Commanders regular season. Couldn’t one respond logically and rationally that many more Commanders fans are hoping there is much winning this season?
If a winning season at, say, 10-7 would earn a playoff birth, resulting in Rivera returning for the last season of his contract, might the majority of Commanders fans take that instead?
Hoffman transitioned to how he likes assistant head coach Eric Bieniemy’s organizational skills and his attention to detail and thinks Bieniemy could really benefit as a head coach from those attributes.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, so back to Ron Rivera.
It is true since becoming the head coach in charge of football operations, Washington has drafted several very nice pieces to the puzzle of their roster. Kam Curl and James Smith-Williams were both seventh-round choices in 2020. 2021 brought Sam Cosmi, Benjamin St-Juste, Dyami Brown, John Bates, and Darrick Forrest. And 2022 may become a very solid draft with Jahan Dotson, Brian Robinson Jr., Percy Butler, Sam Howell and Cole Turner all being selected.
Hoffman lauded Rivera as one who has drafted well, and Hoffman was also asking if Rivera can take this team to the next level. One step Rivera has taken is turning to a new offensive coordinator whom Rivera recently said knows how to get the ball to their best skill-position players quickly.
Both Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke really struggled at times in 2022. Is Sam Howell, the quarterback Washington has been desperately needing since Kirk Cousins led Washington to its last winning records in 2015 and 2016?
Howell has exhibited an ability to extend plays and throw on the move. But of course, this has been the preseason. It does us good to remind ourselves that though Washington won all three preseason games this year, they still don’t count. On the other side of the coin, I have always remembered how in 1982, Washington lost all four preseason games and then proceeded to have the best record in the NFC and win Super Bowl XVII.
There should be no debating that Coach Rivera has helped the culture of the team, the bonding of the team as they have played for one another as a united front behind Rivera. He is to be commended for that.
Yet, this is his fourth season, and not having a winning season record since 2015 and 2016 is frustrating and getting old.
It’s time for a winning season in Washington.
