Commanders head coach Ron Rivera announced on Tuesday that defensive line coach Sam Mills III has been relieved of his duties, a surprising decision that comes just four days before Washington's first preseason game.
Jeff Zgonina, previously Washington's assistant defensive line coach, will step into Mills' role.
Rivera called it a "very difficult" decision to let go of someone he's known for so long. Mills has been a member of Rivera's coaching staffs in Washington and previously in Carolina, dating back to 2011. He's served as Washington's defensive line coach since 2020, the same year Rivera arrived on the job.
"Very difficult. Very difficult," Rivera said. "I've known Sam a long time and he's a very good football coach and I really appreciate everything he's done. He helped us win a division our first year and just things got tough last year, but there's some things that I felt I wanted a change."
Rivera said this wasn't necessarily something that had been building over time, allowing only that, "This is just something that as I've observed and just felt that this was what needed to be done."
Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp and former Redskins lineman Ryan Kerrigan being in the building is unrelated to Mills being let go, Rivera said. The head coach noted that Sapp's presence had been planned for some time and this was the date planned for his arrival, while Kerrigan is in the building to continue to shadow the defensive coaching staff.
"Jeff has been here. Jeff has been coaching these guys," Rivera said, "[Assistant DBs/nickel coach Brent] Vieselmeyer's worked with our defensive ends. So I'm not as concerned as you would be if this was a cold cut."
Mills III has 17 years of coaching experience in the NFL and is the son of Sam Mills Jr., the only player in Carolina Panthers history to have his number retired and the first player inducted into their Hall of Honor. The elder Mills played for the Panthers from their inaugural 1995 season through 1997 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
Zgonina played in the NFL for 17 seasons as a defensive tackle, including one season with Carolina (1995), and has been coaching in various defensive line positions in the NFL since 2013. He led San Francisco's defensive line from 2017 to 2018 and has been an assistant with Washington since 2020.
The Commanders open their preseason schedule against the Panthers on Saturday at FedEx Field.
