Polar opposites back up Rivera

VALUE PICK Coordinator Jack Del Rio has not only run the defense admirably but has also used his experience as a head coach to fill in when coach Ron Rivera undergoes cancer treatments.

- Rick Snider

Head coaches always get the praise and blame, but coordinators are the real makers and breakers of a team. Get a pair of aces running the offense and defense and any coach looks good.

After all, how many times have you seen a team take a step back after losing its coordinators to head coaching jobs elsewhere? It’s why head coaches are often reluctant to let their staff interview elsewhere. It took an NFL rule for coordinators on playoff teams not to be penalized and allowed to interview during the postseason.

Coach Ron Rivera has a two-time head coach running his defense in Jack Del Rio, who now proves invaluable after needing to take over some days while Rivera undergoes cancer treatments. Rivera gave his former assistant in Carolina a chance to be an offensive coordinator when hiring Scott Turner.

Del Rio and Turner was well known to fans, especially the latter whose father Norv was Washington’s head coach from 1994-2000. The coordinators are polar opposites in that each tries to defeat the other on the practice fields of Ashburn. And yet, they combine with Rivera to form an unbreakable trio.

While not expecting to lead the team some days, Del Rio is well poised for it. He led Jacksonville from 2003-11 and Oakland from 2015-17. While he was out of the NFL for two years, Del Rio still has 21 years as a coach after 11 years as a linebacker with four teams. Whenever Rivera needs time for treatments, Del Rio just handles extra efforts effortlessly.