It has not even been an entire 24 hours since the Washington Redskins finished their 2019 season. However, it seems that their head coaching vacancy will be filled sooner rather than later after a productive meeting with former Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera.
Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper reported that the interview process involving Rivera and Daniel Snyder's Redskins has gone incredibly well. If his word is to be believed, there's no reason to believe that he isn't the de facto head coach by the start of the 2020 campaign.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the team’s interview with Rivera is more of a “coronation” and that all signs point to Rivera being named the team’s new head coach on Monday. The team can move quickly to hire Rivera as he fills the need to interview a minority candidate under the terms of the Rooney Rule.
The move comes after a weekend that brought chatter about team president Bruce Allen’s imminent departure from the football operations side of team business. There’s also been word that Snyder has engaged outside voices ahead of the coaching search and it appears that they’re pushing him to make Rivera the choice.
Rivera's latest job was being the head coach of the Carolina Panthers. Thanks to his defensive scheme and role in the development of Cam Newton, they managed to reach Super Bowl 50. Unfortunately for the Panthers, they fell short as Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos managed to get the win.
It will be hard to find another person better qualified than Rivera to help the Redskins rebuild and become a respectable football team once again. Unless some twist of fate says otherwise, he should be standing on the sideline for the Redskins next season.