Quinn talks about firing Kingsbury and Whitt Jr.
The Washington Commanders performed a comprehensive reset of the coaching staff for the 2026 season after a disastrous 5-12 campaign in 2025. Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and defensive coordinator Joe Witt Jr. were previously fired and eventually replaced David Blough and former Minnesota Vikings defensive coach Daronte Jones.
Head coach And Quinn recently addressed the twin firings, arguing that the commanders have a vision for the present and the future.
“They are tough people and what happened at the beginning was things were going well and sometimes you have to adapt and change even when it’s tough. And that’s what we had to do on both sides of the ball,” he said, before saying the commanders had a clear idea of how they wanted to play.
“And going into it with a vision of how we want to play in ’25 and beyond, that’s what drove the decisions,” he explained on The Rich Eisen Show, signaling a sweeping change in strategy. And well, it’s hard to argue with the decision.
Just a year earlier, in head coach Dan Quinn’s inaugural season in 2024, Washington was vastly outscored at 12-5. However, the regression of 2025 forced a rapid restructuring.
Despite an eighth-ranked rushing attack, Kingsbury’s passing game stalled at 24th in yards, dragging the total offense to 22nd in both points and yards, a steep drop from their top-10 offensive metrics a year earlier. This was greatly exacerbated by rookie quarterback Jaden Daniels, who appeared in just seven games.
Defensively, the floor completely collapsed. Washington finished dead last in yards allowed and 27th in points surrendered, prompting Quinn to strip Witt of his play-calling duties after just 10 games.
To remedy the situation, David Blough was promoted from assistant quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator, and Jones is set to take over the defense.
2026-02-26 01:56:00
