Redskins name Ron Rivera as their head coach

Ron Rivera (Google Images)

The Washington Redskins have named Ron Rivera as their head coach. Rivera signed a five year contract on Tuesday according to Rogers Sportsnet.

A native of Fort Ord, California, Rivera was the head coach for the Carolina Panthers from 2011 until his firing on December 3. While at the helm in Carolina, Rivera had a record of 76 wins, 63 losses and one tie for a winning percentage of .546.

The Panthers also made the playoffs in four of the nine seasons Rivera was with Carolina. In 2015, the Panthers had a sensational record of 15 wins and one loss during the regular season and reached the Super Bowl before losing 24-10 to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50.

As a player, Rivera played nine seasons as a linebacker with the Chicago Bears from 1984 to 1992. He was also an assistant coach with the Bears, Philadelphia Eagles and San Diego Chargers.

This was the second coaching change the Redskins made over the last two months. On October 7, the Redskins named Bill Callahan as their interim head coach. Callahan replaced Jay Gruden after Washington lost their first five games of the 2019 National Football League regular season. It will now be interesting to see if Callahan remains in the Redskins organization. Prior to being the interim head coach, Callahan was the assistant head coach and offensive line coach for Washington.

The Redskins had a disastrous record of three wins and 13 losses in 2019. Rivera’s first order of business will be trying to improve the offense. In 2019 Washington had only 266 points, the least in the entire NFL.