Washingtonpost
A Commanders coaching change might not fix any of the team’s problems
J.Johnson3 months ago
ARLINGTON, Texas — After another humiliating loss, most Washington Commanders players said they weren’t thinking about possible coaching changes. During their continuing collapse after a 2-0 start — punctuated Thursday by a 45-10 clobbering from archrival Dallas on national TV — they repeated the good-soldier lines: The stunners. The cheers. The home runs, hat tricks and gameday magic. Don’t miss out with The Sports Moment, a newsletter for the biggest sports news. “It’s not in our control.” “We have to look in the mirror first.” But on Thanksgiving night, several players also questioned what, if anything, a coaching change would accomplish. Left tackle Charles Leno Jr. considered the potential firing of Coach Ron Rivera. “Where we are right now, I don't know if that's going to change [anything],” Leno said. “I don't know if that's going to help.” He asked who would replace Rivera. A reporter suggested assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy . “It would be the same,” Leno said. “At the end of the day, [Bieniemy] would be focused on our offense, and [defensive coordinator] Jack [Del Rio] would be focused on the defense. What's the difference from right now?” Washington (4-8) enters the weekend in free fall. The team appears rudderless and regressive. Fans are upset and clamoring for change. The spotlight is bright on managing partner Josh Harris. Even if firing Rivera might not improve results, replacing the coach could send the message that this level of play is unacceptable. Conversely, standing pat despite the agony of losing could actually help come the offseason. During his postgame news conference, Rivera refused to answer questions about potential staff changes. If you make no changes, a reporter asked, is it realistic for players to expect improvement? “I’m not going to answer that question,” he said. Even if Harris makes a move, it seems unlikely to make a big difference over the final five games. If he fires Rivera, he would be asking Bieniemy or Del Rio to clean up what may be an unfixable mess when neither coordinator has shown the ability to elevate his own unit consistently. If Harris were to install Bieniemy as the interim head coach, he would be asking the coordinator to take at least some energy away from the development of a potential franchise quarterback in Sam Howell. And the team’s play over the final five games could influence Bieniemy’s standing, positively or negatively, in a coaching search in the offseason. If Rivera were to fire Del Rio, it’s unclear who would call plays. Rivera is the only coach who has NFL play-calling experience, and the last time he had that responsibility, it didn’t go very well; he was fired before the end of the 2019 season as coach of the Carolina Panthers. Three position coaches were college defensive coordinators — Steve Russ (linebackers), Brent Vieselmeyer (defensive backs) and Rock Rodgers (assistant defensive backs) — but none has called plays since at least 2017. If Rivera fires a position coach, then what’s the point? It’s obvious the problems are much bigger than one group. And yet players acknowledged it is also untenable not to make changes. “It's ignorant to say a 4-8 team doesn't need to change something,” defensive tackle Jonathan Allen said. “Obviously, what we're doing is not working.” But will change ... change anything? “It’s hard to say,” Allen said. “Hindsight’s always going to be 20-20. ... I know that, when you do the same thing over and over again, you’re going to get the same results. I’m not saying we need a coaching change. But as players, something has to change. We have to do something different. I have to be better. I have to do something that we’re not doing.” A few players, including Allen and receiver Terry McLaurin, were here when Washington made its last in-season coaching change, in 2019. Daniel Snyder fired Jay Gruden after Washington started the season 0-5. McLaurin remembered Bill Callahan, the interim coach, was “old school,” with tougher practices, heavier personnel and more run plays. But Callahan wasn’t much better than Gruden; he went 3-8. “Just because you make changes here or there doesn’t necessarily impact the result,” McLaurin said, adding, “[With Callahan], we still had ups and downs. I just think it’s a matter of the players still having respect and pride. You can’t come in here with your head hanging down and not go hard and not give effort. I just don’t think that’s a reflection of the person and the player you want to be.” Effectively eliminated from playoff contention, every member of the organization must choose how to respond without the possibility of making the postseason. Right guard Sam Cosmi said Washington was a “fighting team” his first two years, but this season, it has been crushed by a web of problems too messy for him to even untangle. “Sickening,” he said of how he felt. “Like, truly, deep down sickening. ... You come to work, you want to work your a- off and have a purpose at the end of the day. Like, a goal.” But now, he pointed out, each player must ask himself questions, such as, “Do I have individual goals to keep me going?” Harris must weigh the sentiment Cosmi expressed when considering a potential change. Would players respond better to a new voice, or would it be change for the sake of change? It’s unclear what Harris will do. It’s unclear whether firing a coach would help. But there’s one message booming out of the Commanders’ locker room. “Something has to change,” Allen said. “You have to do something different to get a different spark.”
Read the full article:https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/11/24/commanders-coaching-change-fix-problems/
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