Washington Commanders' Ron Rivera Recalls Young Mike McDaniel Asking Him For Job

Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera revisited a letter than a young Mike McDaniel sent to him when he was trying to get his first coaching job in the NFL.

Coach Mike McDaniel's Miami Dolphins are 9.5-point road favorites Sunday against the Washington Commanders, led by coach Ron Rivera. But there was a time where the former wanted the latter just to give him a chance to get his foot in the door in the NFL. 

In the mid-2000s, McDaniel, fresh out of college, took the initiative to try and get an entry-level football coaching job, writing letters to a variety of different coaches asking for their help. One he reached out to was Rivera, who actually did respond to him. 

"I think coach Ron was the first person when I was trying to get a GA [graduate assistant] job coming out of college ... I was writing letters all over the country, and he was one of the first people that actually responded to a letter," McDaniel said this week. 

"He didn't give me a job, but I have a lot of respect for him," McDaniel added. 

Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel once asked Ron Rivera -- now the coach of the Washington Commanders -- for a job.  :: Jasen Vinlove/USA Today

McDaniel's first job of note in the NFL came as a coaching intern for the Denver Broncos in 2005 under Mike Shanahan, eventually leading to a noteworthy connection with his son, Kyle. 

Based off of this timeline, McDaniel was seemingly reaching out to Rivera asking for a job when he was the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, a position he held from 2004-2006. Given that McDaniel is now considered one of the brightest offensive minds in the sport, it's interesting to imagine what path his career may have taken if he had gotten a job working under Rivera on the other side of the ball to begin his coaching career. 

That, of course, didn't happen, but Rivera seemed to genuinely recall the exchange with a young McDaniel, with his initiative standing out. 

“Well, I remember replying, and then he reminded me of it last year when I was at one of the committee meetings and we had a great conversation," Rivera said of McDaniel. "He's a very bright, very sharp young man. He really is. When people do things like that, they take the initiative, it goes back to that old saying that I was told back in the day when I wanted to get into coaching, and that is, ‘They're not going to send a limo, so go get the job.' 

"And that was my mentality, and I was very impressed with that," Rivera continued. "And that's why I responded. He took the time and the least I could do is take the time to respond to him. And it's kind of proven it because he's turned into a heck of a football coach. He really has. He's done a great job.”

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After dismissing former defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, Rivera will take over as the defensive play caller Sunday afternoon for the Commanders, against McDaniel, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and receiver Tyreek Hill. There will likely be many points in the Week 13 tilt between the Commanders and Dolphins where Rivera wishes that he had made the best of the opportunity to have McDaniel be a part of his coaching tree.