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.