Ryan Kerrigan is one of Washington’s greatest players. The all-time franchise sack leader sadly spent his final NFL season with Philadelphia in 2021 before signing a one-day contract last summer to retire in Washington.
Kerrigan and his family were at training camp last summer when he retired and met with the press to discuss his career. He openly discussed coaching being a possibility, and that head coach Ron Rivera allowed Kerrigan to shadow the coaches for a couple of weeks in camp to determine if he wanted to try coaching.
Everything changed when Rivera fired defensive line coach Sam Mills III. Washington promoted assistant defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina to defensive line coach, and Kerrigan was now a full-time coach as the assistant defensive line coach.
You could argue that Washington’s defensive line was at its best as a collective unit for the first time in years. Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne earned Pro Bowl bids, while Montez Sweat continued to improve, becoming a dominant force against the run. Some of the Commanders’ young D-linemen progressed, and many credited Zgonina and Kerrigan.
After finishing his first season as a coach, Kerrigan was one of four Washington assistants to coach a position at the Reese’s Senior Bowl under the new format.
In this video from Washington’s Twitter, Kerrigan appeared to be as intense as he was during his playing career. He also injected some humor into the mix.
Coaching shape is a bit different from playing shape 😂
We had @RyanKerrigan91 mic'd up at the @seniorbowl@EASTERNMOTORS | #HTTC
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) February 6, 2023
At one point, the noticeably slimmed-down Kerrigan noted while going through drills with his defensive linemen, “I need to hit the weight room, that Peloton’s doing me no favors right now.”
Congratulations to Coach Kerrigan on a terrific year — his first as a coach at the highest level.