Ron Rivera is briefly returning to the Washington Commanders, but not in the role he previously held.
The former Commanders coach will be on the Sports USA radio call for Washington’s Week 5 game against the Chargers at SoFi Stadium. This appears to be Rivera’s first time in the same building as the Commanders since he was fired in January 2024.
Rivera spent the months after his dismissal building out a media career. He joined ESPN as an NFL Live analyst shortly after leaving Washington, then picked up roles with NFL Network and as a Thursday Night Football analyst for Westwood One for the 2024 season. In March, he took the general manager position at his alma mater, Cal, where he played linebacker and earned All-American honors in 1983.
He’ll watch a Commanders team that barely resembles what he left behind. None of his first four-round picks remain on the roster. Only two of his second-round selections, Sam Cosmi and Quan Martin, are still with Washington. Just six Rivera draft picks total made the roster, with only three signing second contracts.
Rivera went 26-40-1 across four seasons in Washington. The lone playoff appearance came in 2020, when he coached through cancer treatment without missing a game. But the roster never improved enough to sustain success, and after a 4-13 finish in 2023, new owner Josh Harris cleaned house.
The media work came quickly, though. Rivera told ESPN in January 2024 that he still wanted to coach, even as a defensive coordinator, and interviewed with the Eagles and Cowboys for coordinator positions. Neither worked out. So, he pivoted to broadcasting while retaining the Cal GM role, which focuses on fundraising, revenue generation, and program oversight, rather than day-to-day coaching.
Sunday’s game puts Rivera back in an NFL stadium, watching the franchise he ran for four years.
The broadcast booth provides Rivera with a different vantage point than he had as a coach. He won’t have to answer for the Carson Wentz trade or explain why Jamin Davis went in the first round. He’ll call the game and move on to the next one. Meanwhile, the Commanders continue to move forward without him, trying to build something sustainable with the pieces Adam Peters and Dan Quinn have brought in.
That includes Jayden Daniels, who might return from injury for the game.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.