The Washington Commanders made some long-awaited changes Friday, firing defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer after an ugly 45-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
Washington’s defense is last in the NFL in scoring defense by over two points. The Commanders have allowed 30 or more points in seven of their 12 games this season.
Head coach Ron Rivera will handle Del Rio’s role as defensive play-caller for the remaining five games, but who will fill Vieselmeyer’s role as secondary coach?
Rivera announced Friday that Cristian Garcia, who was Washington’s assistant defensive backs/nickels coach, will now serve as the interim DBs coach. Veteran coach Richard Rodgers, currently the senior defensive assistant, will work with Garcia and Rivera in their new roles.
Garcia was hired by Washington in 2021 as a defensive coaching assistant. One year later, he was named as a defensive quality control assistant before being promoted to his current role earlier this year after former secondary coach Chris Harris left Washington for the Tennessee Titans. Vieselmeyer was promoted from assistant DB coach to fill Harris’ position.
“Richard Rodgers will continue as a senior advisor on the defense and continue to work in the defensive backs room with Cristian Garcia who we’re going to elevate to the position,” Rivera said.
“Richard will work with the defensive backs, but he’ll also work with me on some of the game-planning issues as well. And then everybody else will remain in their positions as we go forward and see how these things go. We’re going to work today, we’ll work tomorrow, and we’ll talk about how we’re going to do things as a defense, and we’ll go from there.”
Garcia played linebacker at the University of Florida, where he was a teammate of current Washington assistant quarterback coach Luke Del Rio. He began his coaching career as a defensive graduate assistant at UNLV in 2018, a role he held for two years.
In 2020, Garcia moved to Georgia Tech, where he again served as a grad assistant for one year before coming to Washington in 2021.
Any change Washington makes at this point in the season is unlikely to help the on-field product over the final five games. But the Commanders secondary is a mess, so perhaps a different lead voice could help several of Washington’s struggling young defensive backs.