On the first day of the new year 2020, Washington announced new head coach Ron Rivera. The next day, they announced Rivera’s first staff hire would be to name Jack Del Rio his defensive coordinator.
The last time Del Rio coached an NFL game was 2017, his third as Raiders head coach. He was fired on New Year’s Eve, moments after the Raiders’ final game of the season ended in Los Angeles with a loss to the Chargers.
By that point, most of the NFL world had caught wind of Mark Davis’s plans to bring back Jon Gruden as head coach. Davis wasted no time in notifying Del Rio he would not be back as head coach. A week later, Gruden’s hire was made official.
Del Rio had received a 2-year extension the previous offseason after the Raiders finished 12-4 in 2016 to make their first trip to the playoffs in 14 years. But Derek Carr broke his fibula in week 16, the Raiders were ran out of the playoffs with rookie Connor Cook making his first start, and the team – and specifically the offense — regressed in 2017. Davis sought Gruden’s advice, as he had many times before, but this time the longtime ESPN analyst suggested the answer was hiring him. Davis jumped at the chance and gave Gruden a 10-year $100 million deal to return to the sideline.
In the two seasons since, Del Rio has sat behind a desk as a TV analyst and the Raiders have gone 11-21 under Jon Gruden.
Some might think it ironic that it was the firing of Jon’s brother Jay in Washington that would usher in the return of Jack Del Rio to the NFL coaching ranks.
