Ron Rivera will be taking over defensive play calling duties after firing Jack Del Rio and defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer on Friday.
Speaking with reporters after the moves were announced, Rivera made it known that he will now have little to do with the offense, as Eric Bieniemy will handle the bulk of that duty while Rivera focuses on the defensive side of things, calling plays for the first time in four years.
“This is a little bit more about focusing in on the defensive side again,” Rivera said. “That will be really what I’ll be doing. I won’t spend any time, or have the opportunity to spend any time hanging out with the offensive coaches and visiting with EB stuff. The focus will solely be on preparing the defense and getting ready for our next opponent this week.”
Rivera decided on the decision to shake up the coaching staff after Thursday’s blowout loss to the Cowboys, and took his decision to owner Josh Harris, who gave him the green light.
“For the most part, after going through yesterday and a very long evening and morning, I reached out to Mr. Harris and informed him of what I was deciding and what I was going to do,” Rivera said. “I wanted to make sure he was aligned with me. He agreed and okayed my decision, and I went forward. But I called him early and told him, just looking at the circumstances…this is probably the thing I felt was necessary to do to hopefully get out of this rut and get to a point where we can play to our abilities.”
As for what led to the decision, Rivera mentioned a “snowball” effect that seemed to be happening with struggles on the defensive side, and while he said the decision was not an “indictment” on Del Rio and Vieselmeyer, he felt change was needed.
“We needed to shake it up a bit,” Rivera said. “It’s nothing that indicts what they do or how they do it, just the way we’ve been playing, we needed some things shaken up, and that’s what we did.”