Report: Washington to hire Ron Rivera as next head coach

UPDATE: The deal is done on Tuesday morning, according to multiple NFL Network reports.

Washington owner Dan Snyder has apparently settled on his next head coach. The team will hire former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, according to NFL Network reporters Mike Silver and Tiffany Blackmon. The deal is not finalized, but Rivera is currently traveling to Northern Virginia to get it done.

Washington fired Jay Gruden back in October, and flew under the radar with Bill Callahan installed as the interim head coach. In early December, Carolina fired Ron Rivera, but expectations were that he would land a job sooner than later. Coming into the final weekend, he told NFL Network reporter Mike Silver that he anticipated making a decision about his future fairly quickly.

Snyder put on the full court press, and likely made the decision easier for Rivera when he fired Bruce Allen as team president on Monday morning. Snyder had gone through coaches regularly during his ownership, but Allen was the one common cog over the past decade of mediocrity. There have been power issues in play throughout Allen’s reign, and Rivera likely would not have accepted the job if he had to deal with Allen.

This becomes an interesting situation with Rivera potentially getting significant say in who takes over as Washington’s head of football operations.