The Washington Redskins and team owner Daniel Snyder welcomed Ron Rivera as the new head coach.
While speaking to a crowd that included his family, players, and the media, Rivera spoke about his goal as the new coach and why he took the position.
Dan Snyder introduces new #Redskins coach Ron Rivera. pic.twitter.com/DxeSIQuQuS
— Lake Lewis Jr (@LakeLewis) January 2, 2020
“So why did I choose the Redskins? Probably the question I know a lot of you guys are wondering right now with everything that’s out there,” Rivera said. “Well, I can tell you right now, it’s not about the money. If I wanted the money, I’d still be out there trying to pit a couple of teams against each other. I took this job for one simple reason, one simple reason, because [Owner] Dan Snyder came to me with a very interesting perspective. For weeks he’s explored the reasons why some teams win and some teams don’t. He told me the common factor in that transitional success of teams like the Patriots, the Seahawks, and the Chiefs and some of the others ones was the decision to take it and make it a coach-centered approach. Not an owner-centered approach, or a team president or a general manager but a coach-centered approach. I told Mr. Snyder that I appreciated the fact that he believed the head coach matters. I told him I would be honored but under one condition, it had to be a player-centered culture, a player-centered culture, something I truly do believe in. My responsibility is to get the most out of the players. To work with them, teach them, mentor them. If I have to do it one by one, I most certainly will do it. I’ve done it in the past and I’ll do it again. I’ll do what I can to help these young men become not just the players we want, but the men in the community we need. These are the guys that can help change things. Not just on the football field, but in this world. I really do believe that. I was fortunate enough to have that in Carolina and I hope, and I’m going to work to have it here in Washington.”
Rivera went on to say that the Redskins will be a disciplined team.
“Things will begin and end with one simple principle, discipline,” Rivera said. “I come from a military family where discipline isn’t taught, it’s lived. It’s expected from day one. I have a philosophy that every player, every coach, everyone who works for this organization, they’ll know it day one. You’re not going to play for this team, you’re not going to work for this team if you don’t have the discipline to give us everything you have. No exceptions, no excuses. It’s that simple, guys. We have to hold each other accountable, and that’s something we most certainly will do. We’ll expect the most from each other. Whether I was in Chicago or Carolina, we were at our very best when the players knew that the coaches had their backs. And this is the thing I’m going to ask from the players, do it the way we teach you, do it the way we ask. You do it that way, the success will be yours, okay? You do it that way, the success will be yours. If you don’t, the success is going to be yours but it’s not going to be right. Why? Because if you fail, it’s on you. Do it our way, do it the right way, and if we fail, it’s on me. Okay? It’ll be on me, the head coach. It’s that simple, and I truly believe that. If I ask of you and it doesn’t work, I’m to blame. I told Mr. Snyder, I wanted to assemble a coaching staff that was truly dedicated to the players, and teachers. And teachers, okay? I don’t have to have a great big name. What I have to have are great teachers. We want to teach these guys how to play football to the best of their abilities, to the best of our abilities and also to be good quality young men off the field. I want players who are tough, hungry, who will do whatever it takes to play Redskin football in January and hopefully into February. I told him I wanted to work hand-in-hand with the head of player personnel to spot potential in others that even I didn’t see and others didn’t see. That’s going to be important because it has to be a collaboration. No matter who it is, no matter who’s working with us, it has to be a collaboration. This is not a one-man show. I don’t have all the answers. I’m going to rely on people around me. I’m going to rely on the coaches and the personnel that we put in place to help put this football team together. I told him I didn’t want to go through a five-year rebuilding process because quite honestly, I don’t have the patience and from what I read, neither does he. We understand that. I told him this team has some raw talent. It really truly does. It’s got some quality veteran leadership that can help this team become contenders. At the end of the day, guys, this is what the team’s going to be made of. It’s going to be made of good, quality, young football players and solid veteran leadership to help us take this football team to the next level. So you know what he said? He said, ‘Coach, I want this to be the last job you ever have in the NFL. I want you to go from coaching the Redskins, to collecting social security.’ I turn 58 next week, so I’m getting close. But that sounded pretty good to me. You know as they say, ‘Hail to the Redskins.’ Let’s roll, man. Let’s go.”
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