Category: Coaching Hires

Ron Rivera confident and positive about Commanders’ changes

Rivera spoke on a number of topics, but his comments regarding Sam Howell were the most interesting.

Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera had some positive things to say Tuesday, speaking with the press at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine.

Having released Carson Wentz Monday, Rivera took the time to speak in terms of admiring Wentz the person, the man, despite the fact that Wentz disappointed Rivera with his quarterback play.

“He’s a heck of a young man,” Rivera said. “He’s a solid man. I want to wish him the best. I really do appreciate all he did for us. In the opportunity he had coming here, he did the best he could, and we really appreciate that as well.”

Rivera had wasted no time, making his decision late the previous night to apply the franchise tag to defensive tackle Daron Payne.

Rivera was quick to point out when asked, he is committed to wanting to keep Payne and get him signed, thus the Commanders were the first team to apply the tag in this 2023 offseason.

“The guy’s been very integral to the development of this football team and this defense, as well as the other guys he plays alongside,” the coach said. “We just wanted to make sure everybody understood that we are serious.”

Coach Rivera expressed the need to permit newly hired assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to bring in some staff he desired. Thus, Stanford quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard has been hired as the new QB coach. Bieniemy and Pritchard, having known each other for a decade, Rivera spoke favorably of their relationship.

Regarding Sam Howell, Coach Ron made it clear he had informed Bieniemy of his plan to go with Howell as his QB1 and that Bieniemy was on board with Rivera’s plan.

Yes, factually, Rivera incorrectly alluded to Howell’s “junior year” when he was actually speaking of Howell’s sophomore year of being graded highly by many NFL scouts.

Praising Howell, Rivera expressed, “He’s got a tremendous skill set. He’s got the kind of arm you do look for.”

What Rivera then said raised some eyebrows and brought criticism from some.

“He’s not our starter,” Rivera said. “He’s coming in as the QB1. He’ll get a great opportunity to be our starter. But we do want to find a veteran quarterback. We have Taylor Heinicke, that’s a free agent. We’ve got to work through that as well. And we’ll see what happens from there.”

Rivera was saying it is Howell’s job to maintain and keep, and he’ll be given the top place on the depth chart to do this. He was being honest, that with only 19 passing attempts, you can’t yet say the team starter is already a done deal.

Specifically mentioning Heinicke could very well indicate Rivera might like to have Taylor return as the backup if both parties can agree to a contract.

Rivera also spoke of the team now having their “head above water” and he “feels very confident going forward.”

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Who was Commanders AHC/OC Eric Bieniemy as a running back?

In his final NFL season, Bieniemy scored the game-winning touchdown against — Washington.

We all know Eric Bieniemy is the assistant coach/offensive coordinator, but who was Eric Bieniemy the player?

You might be interested to learn that Bobby Beathard after leaving the Washington Redskins general manager position, was in San Diego as the GM when he drafted a Colorado Buffaloes running back in the second round (39th overall), Eric Bieniemy.

Bieniemy, in his four seasons in Boulder as a Buffalo running back, enjoyed really big seasons in his sophomore and senior seasons. His 1987 freshman season saw Bieniemy gain 508 yards and five touchdowns in 104 rushing attempts for 4.9 yards per carry. He also caught ten passes for 186 yards (18.6) and one touchdown.

Bieniemy’s sophomore season was a breakout year as he rushed for 1,243 yards (5.7 YPC) and ten touchdowns.  In his junior year, injuries limited Bieniemy to only eight games while still averaging 6.4 yards per carry (88-561).

His senior year was spectacular, rushing for 1,628 yards on 288 carries (5.7 YPC). He led the nation in yards from scrimmage (1,787). Bieniemy was a consensus All-American, and he finished third in the Heisman Trophy balloting (Ty Detmer, Raghib Ismail).

In the NFL, Bieniemy, after being drafted by the Chargers played for San Diego for four seasons (1991-94), the Bengals for four seasons (1995-98), finishing up with the Eagles in the 1999 season.

His highest NFL rushing total was only 381 yards (1995 with Cincinnati). Yet, Bieniemy did enjoy some good success catching the ball out of the backfield. In that same season, he collected 43 receptions for 424 yards 9.9 (yards per reception).

In the following three seasons, Bieniemy also caught 32, 31 and 27 receptions respectively. His career rushing numbers were 387 carries for 1,589 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns and 146 receptions for 1,223 yards.

So spending much time on special teams and catching the ball out of the backfield, Bieniemy was a competitive player who was good enough to last nine seasons in the NFL.

Incidentally, Bieniemy’s last NFL touchdown came against yes, the Washington Redskins in the 1999 game in Philadelphia. Washington led 28-27, but Bieniemy scored the go-ahead/winning touchdown with 3:38 remaining on his 11-yard touchdown run for a 35-28 Eagles victory.

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Eric Bieniemy welcomed to the Commanders

Eric Bieniemy speaks with Julie Donaldson after his introductory press conference.

Julie Donaldson welcomed Eric Bieniemy to the Washington Commanders.

Here are some of Bieniemy’s thoughts. Here is the entire interview.

“I’ve known Coach Rivera for a number of years. He’s a great man, a man of integrity. He’s an outstanding leader of men and I’m grateful to have this opportunity to work with him.”

“A lot of people don’t know this, Marty Hurney was on the staff as the Director of Player Personnel when I was drafted by the San Diego Chargers. So, our relationship goes back to 1991.”

“So, it feels good being in an environment with people that you know but also good people who are professional men that understand what it takes to build a winner.”

“What makes me the right guy is the leadership that I am going to bring, holding guys to the highest standard, getting them to understand the importance of being accountable…understanding what consistent and disciplined behavior is, and you have to be willing to work at it every single day.”

“If you get a cohesive unit that believes in each other and plays for each other those guys will go out and be great because the talent is here.”

“It’s been an amazing ride; I’ve been there (Kansas City) for ten years. Throughout those ten years, we’ve had a great deal of success. My last five years there, I was offensive coordinator, and we went to five AFC Championship games, three Super Bowls and won two.”

“Like I said in my press conference, Comfort can become the enemy of progress and sometimes you just want to do something new, and its about embracing the challenge. I’ve never run from a challenge.”

“First of all you see a guy (Sam Howell) who can make a number of throws. But you always want to create competition to bring out the very best in every player. You want to create a competitive environment so that no one is taking anything for granted.”

“When it is all said and done, we want our guys being at their best, when their best is needed.”

“We are going to play complimentary football. We want our guys to not fall into the idea that we have to do ‘this’. No, we have to do whatever it takes to win.”

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Former Washington player/defensive coordinator Greg Manusky has a new job

Greg Manusky spent a total of eight seasons in Washington, including three as defensive coordinator.

Greg Manusky was a popular player for the then-Washington Redskins from 1988-90. An undrafted linebacker from Colgate, Manusky appeared in 39 games, making 15 starts during his three seasons in Washington.

Manusky left Washington for Minnesota, where he spent three seasons before playing his final six seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Shortly after his playing career ended, Manusky returned to Washington to begin his coaching career. He was the linebackers coach for Washington in 2001 under his former Kansas City coach Marty Schottenheimer. After a five-year stint as linebackers coach with the Chargers, Manusky spent the next nine seasons as a defensive coordinator with three teams.

Then, he once again returned to Washington.

After spending one season as outside linebackers coach in 2016, Manusky spent the next three seasons as defensive coordinator and frequently drew the ire of fans for his struggling defensive teams.

It was a hard fall for Manusky, who went to the college game for two seasons as a defensive quality control assistant for the Kentucky Wildcats. He returned to the NFL in 2022 as an inside linebackers coach for the Vikings under former Washington colleague Kevin O’Connell.

Now, Manusky has another new job in the NFL. He is the inside linebackers coach for new Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton. Why Denver? New defensive coordinator Vance Joseph was the assistant defensive backs coach under Manuksy for four seasons in San Francisco, while Manusky was the defensive coordinator.

While Manusky’s defenses in Washington weren’t very good, he remains a respected coach around the NFL.

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Stanford QB coach Tavita Pritchard expected to land on Commanders’ staff

The former college quarterback would likely serve as Eric Bieniemy’s QB coach in Washington.

When it was revealed two assistants from Washington’s offensive staff would not return in 2023 under new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, the names of replacements began to circulate.

Out are Jim Hostler and Drew Terrell. The two names who interviewed with Washington earlier this week were Chiefs running backs coach Greg Lewis and Stanford quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard.

According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Pritchard is now working on an agreement that would likely bring him to Washington as the new QB coach. Fowler is who reported the initial news of Pritchard’s interview with the Commanders.

Pritchard, 36, is a native of Lakewood, Wash., and started for parts of three seasons until Andrew Luck replaced him in 2009. Pritchard quickly moved into coaching as a graduate assistant at his alma mater in 2010.

Pritchard’s entire coaching career was at Stanford, so for the first time since he was a high school senior in 2005, Pritchard will be in a different locale this fall.

Here is a look at the different positions Pritchard coached at Stanford:

  • 2011-12: defensive assistant
  • 2013: running backs
  • 2014-17: quarterbacks/wide receivers
  • 2018-22: offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
  • 2023: quarterbacks

When Stanford head coach David Shaw stepped down at the conclusion of the 2022 season, Troy Taylor took over as head coach. Taylor retained Pritchard as his QB coach but not as offensive coordinator.

If Pritchard lands in Washington as expected, he’ll work closely with Sam Howell, the Commanders’ projected starter under center in 2023.

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Rivera: Bieniemy brings ‘instant credibility’ to the Commanders

Bieniemy came into his Washington interview with a specific plan for all of Washington’s offensive players.

With the media Thursday, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera quickly pointed out the success new assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy will bring to the Commanders.

Rivera has known Bieniemy much longer than any of the players, pointing to Bieniemy’s success as a high school then college player, NFL player and growth and development as an NFL coach.

“You have the success he had it is instant credibility,” declared Rivera. “I think that is one of the more important things for our guys. They are looking at the guy that’s been there, done that, had the success. So, when he speaks I mostly know everybody’s gonna listen.”

“I was very excited about the fact that he (Bieniemy) wanted to come and interview. I thought that was a good start for us. One thing I really appreciated when he got in was some of the first things he talked about was our roster. Listening to what he saw potentially with Sam was a good thing.”

Rivera expressed that early in the dialog, Bieniemy conveyed plans for Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson, Curtis Samuel, the running game, having your tight ends involved. “Those were things that really told me that he’s really been paying attention these last few days in preparation for this opportunity to sit down and talk with me. He had an idea of where he wanted to go.”

Sounds like Coach Rivera is not only optimistic, but excited about having Eric Bieniemy now on the staff to take command of the offense.

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A relaxed Commanders HC Ron Rivera joked with the media

Ron Rivera was in a jovial mood Thursday.

Coaching in the NFL can be terribly stressful, even worse if you have had to deal with all of the off-field issues Ron Rivera has had put on his plate.

Thursday, while meeting with the press, the Commanders head coach, Rivera told of the process that went into hiring Kansas City offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, the reactions of his players whom he privately told, and the head coach even took a moment to joke with the sports media covering the big day introducing Bieniemy to the local media.

ESPN’s John Keim inquired, “What’s the next step? This was obviously a big problem solved to improve.” Rivera responded, “Well, the next big step is really we are going through all the positional coaches assignments, duties, jobs. How he (Bieniemy) wants to do some things with these guys (coaches), do some things a little bit differently. Which has been a really good conversation. In fact that was one of the things we were working on before this started.”

Then Rivera quickly transitioned to what his new assistant head coach would be doing. “We talked about what his assistant head coaching duties are going to be. He’s going to handle all the paper work. He’s going to handle all the arduous conversations he has with you guys about what is going on outside of football. I’ll just stick to football. Rivera paused, “This is a joke, relax!” Rivera burst out in laughter. Suddenly all the reporters around him could be heard laughing as well.

It has been a stressful three years for Rivera. He was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo treatments during the 2020 season, often leaving him weak and needing to sit down, sometimes go get needed sleep to help him recover. There have been numerous distractions regarding ownership, including two NFL investigations into the workplace environment.

If that is not enough, Rivera has had to play eight quarterbacks in his three seasons, and his big trade for Carson Wentz he was so excited about last offseason, sadly backfired on him and will cost the Commanders their round-three choice (80 overall) to the Indianapolis Colts.

Good to see coach Ron is relaxed, not taking himself too seriously, joking around, and having some fun with the media.

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Logan Paulsen looking ahead to Bieniemy offense for Commanders

Paulsen is excited about the possibilities for Bieniemy’s offense in Washington.

Logan Paulsen and Craig Hoffman conversed on their Take Command Podcast regarding what Eric Bieniemy’s Commanders offense might look like this upcoming season.

Paulsen initially pointed out that from a particular motion by Travis Kelce, the Chiefs were able to force the defenders to switch coverage responsibilities. (They) mess with their rules, mess with their alignment/coverages.

“Another alignment the Chiefs offense liked was motion into a 3 by 1, now giving an offense a 4 by 1 look (four receivers on one side of the field and a lone fifth receiver on the other side of the field). This forces the middle linebacker to shift to the “4 receiver side”, and the slant on the opposite side now is wide open.”

“There is a ton of stuff they do really well. I mean, it’s all high-level. It’s the best offense in football for the last couple of years. I think the philosophical element is so valuable here because it does create easier throws, easier looks, easier opportunities for the quarterback.”

“What takes them from a top 20 offense to a top 5 offense is Patrick Mahomes, his ability to do that special stuff, he extends plays, finds big plays, elevates the whole group. And that is an important thing to acknowledge here as well.”

The discussion is only 13 minutes in length and is well worth your time.

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Commanders Jim Hostler not returning to staff in 2023

Jim Hostler will not be back in 2023.

Washington Commanders offensive assistant coach Jim Hostler has been relieved of his duties.

Washington Times reporter Matthew Paras was the first with the breaking news.

It is believed that newly hired offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy would have control of the offensive staff. Thus, this is the beginning of Bieniemy choosing who remains on the staff and whom he replaces.

Hostler came to Washington in 2020 after having served as wide receivers coach for the Panthers (Ron Rivera) in 2019. In 2021, he became the senior offensive assistant, serving as Scott Turner’s primary aid in forming weekly game plans.

Hostler has coached in the NFL for the past 23 seasons, breaking into the league in the 2000 season with the Kansas City Chiefs as part of Gunther Cunningham’s staff.

He has also worked for the following head coaches: Mike McCarthy (Packers), Jim Haslett (Saints), Herman Edwards (Jets), Mike Nolan (49ers), John Harbaugh (Ravens), Doug Marrone (Bills) and Chuck Pagano (Colts).

Hostler, age 56, prior to his NFL coaching, also gained ten years of coaching experience from 1990-99 at Indiana (PA) and Juniata.

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Chiefs insider tells what Commanders are getting in Bieniemy

A good look at what Washington fans can expect from Eric Bieniemy.

What did Adam Teicher, ESPN Chiefs Insider, have to say about Eric Bieniemy?

Teicher was a guest on the “John Keim Report,” discussing the Commanders hiring of Bieniemy as their new offensive coordinator and assistant head coach.

Below are some nuggets regarding Bieniemy. Here is the full podcast episode.

JK: “Of all the people they interviewed, I think he was the best choice…I think he is going to provide some energy and juice to an offense that needs it. What you also need is consistent quarterback play and a better offensive line. That makes any coordinator look better. Just hiring a new coach is not going to be enough to turn this offense around.”

AT: “The Commanders are getting a guy who, player after player over the years, has told me is detail-oriented down to the most minute of details.”

AT: “He is a coach who is known to ride his players kinda hard, and that rubs some players the wrong way. Particularly some veteran players have not appreciated that part of his coaching. I know there are a lot of players who think the opposite.”

AT: “His insistence on them doing things right has made them a better player than they otherwise would have been. Jamaal Charles and Adrian Peterson felt this way. Charcandrick West, an undrafted free agent, told me, ‘I wouldn’t be in the NFL if it wasn’t for Eric Bieniemy.’ ”

AT: “He does not let things slide, and you hear that from a lot of people. He is not afraid to throw a guy out of a drill if he is not getting it done the way Bieniemy wants.”

AT: “He’s got that booming voice, and sometimes he will stand out over the pack. So when you see him in training camp, you will hear his voice. No doubt about that.

AT: “You could see an exchange between Mahomes and Bieniemy; it wasn’t a friendly one. So, there are definitely moments like that. There are some players who don’t like that kind of coaching. There were a couple of veteran backs here who didn’t appreciate how Eric Bieniemy goes about his business. The Commanders are probably going to see that from time to time.”

AT: “There is no doubt that Andy Reid’s shadow is considerable here. The two previous offensive coordinators (Pederson & Nagy) coached Patrick Mahomes. There is a considerable shadow there, when you think about it. What will Bieniemy be like without Mahomes? Well, we don’t know.”