Commanders continue to make important hires under owner Josh Harris

Josh Harris continues to make significant investments in the most important areas of the franchise.

The Washington Commanders made two significant hires on Monday, naming Ryan Juarez as the team’s director of rehabilitation and Jamal Randall Sr. as the team’s senior physical therapist/assistant athletic trainer.

It’s part of owner Josh Harris’s continued effort to beef up the organization’s infrastructure. In addition to hiring Eugene Shen as senior vice president of football strategy late last season, Harris hired Adam Peters as general manager and has made other critical business hires.

Juarez and Randall are important because Washington received failing grades in the NFLPA survey for its training room (F-) and training staff (F). Among the players’ complaints were that the Commanders didn’t have enough trainers or physical therapists. Harris will prioritize these types of hires, as he’s done with his other organizations in the NBA and NHL.

Here’s this from commanders.com:

With the additions of both Juarez and Randall Sr., Washington has formed their new Rehabilitation Unit. This unit is a newly dedicated and streamlined process which will work in collaboration with the performance department and is designed to coordinate the rehab process for injured players in the most effective way possible. This function will play a vital role in return to play decision-making.

Juarez comes to Washington directly from the University of Nebraska, where he served as the director of rehabilitation. Before his time at Nebraska, Juarez spent time at Mercer University, the San Diego Chargers, the San Diego Fleet of the AAF, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Fresno State football program. 

Randall spent the past seven seasons with the Atlanta Falcons as the athletic trainer and physical therapist.

Commanders make another key off-field hire

Josh Harris continues to make positive changes for the Commanders, hiring a new senior director of player health and performance.

Josh Harris is slowly remaking the Washington Commanders to his liking. It began in October when Harris made his first big hire, naming Eugene Shen as Washington’s senior vice president of football strategy.

In January, Harris hired Adam Peters as Washington’s new general manager, followed by head coach Dan Quinn. Quinn then proceeded to assemble an excellent coaching staff that has drawn praise from around the NFL.

Earlier this week, the Commanders hired Jim Rushton as the franchise’s new chief partnerships officer. Rushton will oversee all aspects of sponsorship and report directly to team president Jason Wright.

On Wednesday, Harris made another hire, naming Tim McGrath as senior director of player health and performance. McGrath initially joined Washington as a consultant toward the end of the 2023 season. He will oversee all athletic training, strength and conditioning, nutrition, sports science and player wellness programs in the organization.

McGrath comes to Washington with a wealth of experience in pro sports (20 years) and clinical experience (22 years).

McGrath will use sports science to develop individual plans for every Washington player. This is another big-time hire by Harris, who has proven in each of his other organizations he will do everything in his power to make life better for the players.

Peters released the following statement:

“Tim McGrath has been an incredible resource for our players since joining the organization as a consultant towards the end of last season,” said Peters. “I’m excited to officially welcome him to the organization in a full-time capacity as our senior director of player health and performance. I’ve been impressed with the time I’ve spent with him since I was hired here in January. He has a vast knowledge in all areas of player wellness and athlete performance and will play a vital role in improving our overall athletic training and athlete care services here in Washington.”

 

10 potential general manager candidates for the Commanders

Let the offseason begin. Here are 10 potential Washington general manager candidates.

The Washington Commanders began the offseason on Monday by firing head coach Ron Rivera. Rivera went 26-40-1 in four seasons as Washington’s head coach.

In addition to firing Rivera, the Commanders announced an advisory committee formed by managing partner Josh Harris, minority owners David Blitzer, Magic Johnson, Mitch Rales and former Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers and former Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman. The purpose of the advisory committee is to find a new coach and head of football operations.

While Martin Mayhew serves as Washington’s general manager, he reports to Rivera. Rivera hired Mayhew as his handpicked GM in the 2021 offseason, but all football decisions began and ended with Rivera.

Harris spent the 2023 NFL season consulting with Rivera, Mayhew, and executive VP of football/player personnel Marty Hurney while making his first significant hire: Eugene Shen. Shen was hired in October as Washington’s senior vice president of football strategy and has been heavily involved in preparing to reshape the organization’s future.

Mayhew and Hurney will remain in the organization while Washington conducts its search for the new head of football operations.

The Commanders are set to hire their first true general manager since Charley Casserly was dismissed in 1999. While some have held the title over the years, it was never the traditional setup, as former owner Snyder was always heavily involved.

Who will be Washington’s next general manager? We preview 10 potential candidates. The Commanders have already inquired about some of the names on this list.

Commanders request permission to interview Ravens DC Mike MacDonald

Washington wants to interview another top candidate.

We’ve heard that Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris reportedly wants to shape his organization like the Baltimore Ravens. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Harris sees the Ravens as the ideal model from an organizational standpoint.

Harris’ first significant hire in October was Eugene Shen. Shen was hired as Washington’s senior vice president of football strategy, overseeing the team’s analytics department.

On Monday, the Commanders fired head coach Ron Rivera. Shortly afterward, Washington officially began seeking permission from other teams to interview potential general managers and head coaches. One of those head coaching candidates is Ravens defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald.

MacDonald, 36, is in his first season as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator. The Ravens finished No. 1 in the NFL in defensive DVOA, per FTN. FTN’s DVOA metric is considered a much better indicator of statistical success than traditional numbers, such as total defense.

A graduate of the University of Georgia, MacDonald began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for Mark Richt at his alma mater in 2010. He would ascend to a defensive quality control assistant for the next three years before receiving an opportunity in the NFL.

In 2014, MacDonald joined the Ravens as a coaching intern. He moved up as a defensive assistant for the next two seasons before becoming defensive backs coach in 2017. From 2018-20, MacDonald served as Baltimore’s linebackers coach. After that season, he left John Harbaugh and the Ravens to become Jim Harbaugh’s defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan. After one outstanding season, he returned to the Ravens, where he’s been the defensive coordinator for the past two seasons.

MacDonald is one of the top candidates during this coaching cycle.

New Commanders’ head of analytics played a role in Tuesday’s trades

Eugene Shen making an impact before he officially begins his new job.

Josh Harris made his first significant hire last week, tapping Eugene Shen as the Washington Commanders’ Senior Vice President of Football Strategy.

Shen’s new position with the Commanders wasn’t scheduled to begin until Nov. 6, which is next week. However, Shen is already at work, according to head coach Ron Rivera.

With the Commanders trading defensive ends Montez Sweat and Chase Young before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, they wanted to receive the best possible value for the talented pass rushers. Enter Shen.

Rivera was asked if Tuesday was the best day to trade Young and Sweat because, as the saying goes, “deadlines spur action.”

“I think when you look at what the options were and what the opportunities were in terms of the value, and that’s where Eugene Shen comes in, is being able to talk about what the potential value is,” Rivera said. “Those things all came into play.”

To be clear, Rivera didn’t say Shen was in the building. But Harris, who relies heavily on analytics with his other franchises, wanted Shen’s expert input.

The Commanders received a second-round pick from Chicago for Sweat and a third-round pick from San Francisco for Young.

Now, the Commanders have nine picks in the 2024 NFL draft, including three expected to be inside the top 50.

 

Commanders hire Eugene Shen to head analytics department

The Commanders make a significant hire on Thursday.

The Washington Commanders made the first significant outside hire of the Josh Harris era Friday, naming Eugene Shen as the team’s senior vice president of football strategy. In Shen’s new role, he will oversee all analytics and software development for the football operations.

Shen is a graduate of Harvard and has an MBA from MIT. Shen has plenty of NFL experience, working with the Baltimore Ravens from 2014-19 as the director of coaching analytics. Late in 2019, Shen moved to the Miami Dolphins, where he was the director of personnel analytics. From 2021-22, Shen was vice president of football analytics for the Jacksonville Jaguars, overseeing all data and analytics for the entire football operation.

Washington head coach Ron Rivera had the following statement on Shen’s hiring:

“Bringing Eugene’s level of expertise to lead our analytics and software development enables us to build on our data capabilities to help inform decision-making,” Rivera said. “Eugene brings a great deal of practical NFL experience, and we look forward to bringing him into our conversations about the vision of our team going forward. The willingness of our ownership group to follow through on their pledge to allocate resources to data and analytics is exciting for the future of the franchise.”

Harris, who assumed ownership on July 20, is ahead of the game when it comes to analytics. Harris has often spoken about the importance of analytics, and his hires with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils support his commitment.

Shen begins his new role on Nov. 6.

Under former owner Daniel Snyder, the Commanders were named as one the least analytically based teams in the NFL. However, Washington has made strides over the past year. The Commanders hired football data scientist Preston Biro in June, who joined Doug Drewry, Washington’s football analytics coordinator, who has been with the franchise for four years.

“It’s an exciting time to be joining this legendary franchise, and I look forward to working with Coach Rivera and the front office to help shape the vision of the franchise going forward,” Shen said in a statement from the team.

“I have immense respect for the hard work that coaches and talent evaluators put into roster construction, team building and game strategy, and I believe that an increase in resources will provide further tools to inform the decisions we make as a franchise going forward as part of the ongoing work to become the best in the NFL.”

This is a significant hire by Harris as he will continue reshaping the Commanders over the next several months.