Eagles look into adding former rival to fill major void

The Philadelphia Eagles are wasting no time searching for their next defensive coordinator after firing Sean Desai on Sunday.  Even before Desai's dismissal, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman started calling available coaches around the league as early as last Tuesday.  The Athletic's Dianna Russini reported over the weekend that the […]

Kelsey Kramer — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer
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Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni talks with Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera after the game at FedExField.
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The Philadelphia Eagles are wasting no time searching for their next defensive coordinator after firing Sean Desai on Sunday. 

Even before Desai's dismissal, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman started calling available coaches around the league as early as last Tuesday. 

The Athletic's Dianna Russini reported over the weekend that the Eagles have shown interest in ex-New York Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and former Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen so far. 

And on Monday, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler announced that the Eagles have scheduled their first official defensive coordinator interview with former Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera. 

Rivera, 62, is no stranger to Philly as he coached the Eagles' linebackers from 1999 to 2003 under then head coach Andy Reid. 

Not to mention that Rivera had played the Eagles twice a year when he became Washington's head coach in 2020. But after leading the Commanders to a 4-13 record this past season, including eight straight losses to end the year, he was fired earlier this month. 

Rivera, a former NFL linebacker himself, has plenty of experience as a defensive coordinator, though he has not held that title since his 2008-2010 stint with the then-San Diego Chargers. During Rivera's final season with the Chargers, their defense defense ranked 10th in points and 1st in yards. 

Before that, Rivera was the Chicago Bears' defensive coordinator for three seasons where he led back-to-back top-ranked defenses (2005-2006) and was named Assistant Coach of the Year. 

Rivera was also head coach of the Carolina Panthers for nine seasons (2011-2019). 

He holds an overall 102-103-2 record as an NFL head coach for the Commanders and Panthers combined. 

While his time as a head coach isn't much to gloat about, Rivera thrived as a defensive coordinator and would be an upgrade from both Desai and Matt Patricia. 

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