The Washington Commanders fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and secondary coach Brent Vieselmeyer Friday — one day after a 45-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day. The loss dropped Washington to 4-8.
Head coach Ron Rivera announced he’d take over Del Rio’s responsibilities as the defensive play-caller. Additionally, Rivera said assistant secondary coach Cristian Garcia would be elevated on an interim basis to replace Vieselmeyer, while senior defensive assistant Richard Rodgers would assist Garcia and help Rivera with game planning.
On Tuesday, the Commanders surprisingly announced an outside hire. Washington hired Jim Salgago for the remainder of the season to help Garcia with the defensive backs. Salgado spent the 2023 season as the cornerbacks coach for Michigan State but had spent the previous six years with the Buffalo Bills.
Rivera spoke about Salgado’s addition on Wednesday.
“Jimmy’s a guy that did internships with us before in the past,” Rivera said. “He’s a coach I’ve known for quite some time, and a couple of times, I’ve tried to hire him. He ended up in Buffalo. He was with [Buffalo Bills Head Coach] Sean [McDermott] and [Former Buffalo Bills Coach] Leslie [Frazier] and that system, which is similar to some of the things that we do. And so, when he was at Michigan State most recently, and when the season was over, the word was they were going to change their head coach, so I reached out to him after the season was over to find out what his status was. He was available, so we got him [and] brought him in. He’s going to come in, he’s going to work with the defensive backs, and he’s just going to finish the year out for us, and then we’ll go from there.”
It’s unusual to see a team bring in a coach from the outside this late in the season, but the move is a short-term one to help the Commanders finish the season.