The Washington Commanders fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and secondary coach Brent Vieselmeyer, according to a statement released by head coach Ron Rivera.
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) November 24, 2023
The Commanders are coming off an embarrassing 45-10 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day. Out of 12 games this season, Washington’s defense allowed 30 or more points eight times. The defense was supposed to be a team strength in 2023, coming off a top-10 season in 2022. In some metrics, the Commanders were in the top five.
Del Rio, a former NFL linebacker and two-time head coach, came to Washington with Rivera in 2020. In two of his four seasons, the Commanders had a top-10 defense and struggled in the other two seasons.
Vieselmeyer also landed in Washington in 2023 as the assistant defensive backs and nickel coach. He was promoted to defensive backs coach in February when Chris Harris took another job with the Titans.
Vieselmeyer’s only NFL experience came with the Raiders from 2015-17, when Del Rio was the head coach. Since Del Rio was let go from the Raiders, Vieselmeyer was an analyst at Kansas for one season and was the head coach at Santa Margarita High School in California in 2019.
Washington’s secondary has regressed this season under Vieselmeyer despite adding a first-round pick (Emmanuel Forbes) and a second-round pick (Quan Martin) to the roster.