LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. – The Washington Commanders announced today that Ryan Kerrigan has been named assistant defensive line coach. Kerrigan will fill the role previously held by Jeff Zgonina who was promoted to the role of defensive line coach in training camp.
Kerrigan signed a one-day contract on July 29th, retiring as a member of the Burgundy and Gold. He is the Commanders all-time official sack leader and appeared in 172 games for the franchise from 2011-20.
"Ryan Kerrigan is one of the most accomplished players in this franchise's history," said Head Coach Ron Rivera. "Following his retirement, we had a great talk about his goals for life after playing. Ryan had an interest in coaching and we were able to allow him to shadow our coaching staff this summer. He is an extremely hard worker with tremendous knowledge of the defensive line position group. I look forward to watching him develop as a coach and assist Coach Zgonina in the defensive line room."
Kerrigan finished his career in Washington appearing in 172 games (143 starts) and registered 457 tackles (333 solo), including 117 for loss, 95.5 sacks, three interceptions which were all returned for touchdowns, 25 passes defensed and 26 forced fumbles.
Along with being the franchise's all-time leader in official sacks, Kerrigan is also one-of-three players in NFL history to record 60-plus sacks and 3-plus interceptions returned for touchdowns joining Jason Taylor and Julius Peppers. He is also second in franchise history in multi-sack games (18), trailing only Dexter Manley.
Kerrigan was selected in the first round (No. 16 overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft by Washington. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection during his tenure with the organization. Kerrigan was recently selected as one of the 10 new additions to the 90 Greatest List. He also had a streak of 139-consecutive games played from 2011-19.
