On Friday, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera was asked about something that can be a very sticky issue.
Some were probably surprised to hear the question, but longtime ESPN Washington Insider John Keim has earned the right to inquire regarding some of the issues that can be difficult to discuss.
Rivera and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio both have family that are employees on the football staff. When family members are hired, “sometimes” events transpire bringing the charge of nepotism. As many are aware in their own workplace environments, nepotism can be quite disruptive to the morale in an organization.
Rivera’s nephew, Vincent Rivera enters his sixth NFL season and second as Washington’s defensive quality control/assistant linebackers coach in 2022. Del Rio’s son, Luke Del Rio is entering his third season coaching in the NFL, his third as Washington’s offensive quality control coach and his first as the assistant quarterbacks coach in 2022.
Keim inquired, “You have a relative on the coaching staff. What are the benefits of coaching with family?”
“Yeah, there is. I mean, it’s that familiarity. It’s funny because if somebody’s gonna tell me something I need to hear, it’s him. He’s not gonna shy away from it. And I could say the same thing for a couple of coaches that have been with me for a long, long time. [Assistant Defensive Backs Coach] Richard Rodgers, [Offensive Line Coach] John Matsko, they’re gonna tell me what I need to know and what I need to hear. They’re not gonna candycoat or sugarcoat anything. They’re just gonna tell me, ‘Hey, this, that, and the other thing.’ That’s just the way it needs to be and that’s the way it should be. All my coaches should be able to do that. But when you have a relative on it, yeah, he’s my nephew, and he’s a young guy that started from the bottom and is gonna work his way up, and hopefully he’ll get the opportunities that I’ve had.”
Keim followed up, “There are some teams that may have a rule against having somebody in your family on staff. Obviously, you don’t have a problem with it. What do you think about teams that don’t? And why do you like or favor that?”
“Well, it’s not necessarily that I like it; it’s just that there’s the opportunity. If I’d been told I couldn’t hire a relative, I wouldn’t have hired a relative. You know what I’m saying? But again, he’s starting at the bottom, and from that point, wherever he goes, he goes. I made it very clear cut that if anybody’s gonna have to do it the right way he is, just because of his last name. And I’ve been very clear with him and his parents. I told my brother, I said, just tell him don’t do anything that’s gonna make me fire him.”
I don’t think Keim was suggesting nepotism has been or is a current problem for the football staff. It being the third year, this has been the case; perhaps it was an appropriate and perceptive question for Keim to raise.
Rivera seemed to handle the question well, and even applied it directly to his own individual family situation.