The Washington Commanders have dealt with plenty of change over the past few decades. While things didn’t always go as planned, the Commanders have shown what good ownership, coach, and quarterback could do for a team.
The Commanders will play in the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 26, in large part due to Jayden Daniels and Dan Quinn.
But the old times haven’t been forgotten just yet. It’ll take a lot more for fans to forget what they endured, including the time with Ron Rivera as the head coach. Rivera was the head coach from 2020 to 2023, and while not everything was his fault, the Commanders have been a much better team under Quinn.
He remains in the coaching market this year and will have a chance to land a new job. Whether a team wants him or not remains to be seen, but he’s a veteran head coach, and that holds weight around the league.
So much so that Maurice Moton of Bleacher Report predicted Rivera would land with the Dallas Cowboys as their next head coach.
“After a nine-year stint with the Carolina Panthers, Rivera won a division title in his first season with the then-Washington Football Team. In the following three years, Washington finished third or fourth in the NFC East while struggling to find a franchise quarterback. In Dallas, Rivera wouldn’t have to worry about the quarterback position, with Dak Prescott entrenched as the starter. He could use his expertise to strengthen the Cowboys defense, which gave up the second-most points and fifth-most yards this past season.
“With the swirling rumors surrounding Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, Rivera would be a conservative option with low buzz. That said, the Cowboys brought in retreads with three of their last four head coaching hires: Mike McCarthy, Wade Phillips and Bill Parcells,” Moton wrote on January 20.
Rivera Has a History With the Cowboys
After Rivera and the Washington Commanders split up last offseason, he interviewed with the Dallas Cowboys for their defensive coordinator opening.
Rivera didn’t get the job, but he had nothing but excellent things to say about Jerry Jones and the Cowboys.
“I’ve had a tremendous relationship with the Joneses and the Cowboys, competing against them every year for several years, so I’ve gotten to know who they are,” Rivera said on “Undisputed.” “So sitting down, talking about their football team was something I thought was a really good experience for me. I really appreciated it.
“And I do like the way it did go, I thought Mr. Jones was tremendous. Mike McCarthy was really good about it, it was a great conversation. To me, it was an opportunity also to get a sense, a feel, of what else was going on around the league.”
If the Cowboys feel the same way as Rivera did about their interview, perhaps he’ll get another chance to show what he has in the interview process but as a head coach this time.
Would Rivera Be a Good Fit for the Cowboys?
In his career, Rivera has had decent stints as a head coach. He finished 26-40 in his four seasons as the Washington Commanders head coach and even won an NFL East title in 2020.
However, as a whole, he’s been about average, going 102-103 and 3-5 in the playoffs. Rivera lost in Super Bowl L.
The Dallas Cowboys could be intrigued by his long history of coaching, but outside of that, there may be better fits out there. The Commanders saw the benefits of moving on, and the Cowboys could view that as a reason to stay away.
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