Tag: Eric Bieniemy new Commanders OC

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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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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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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