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john keem
ASHBURN, Va.–The Washington CommandersOne year removed from a trip to the NFC Championship Game, both coordinators have moved on, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
After meeting with head coach Dan Quinn, the Commander and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury agreed to part ways by mutual consent. Meanwhile, the team fired defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. The latter move was long expected, as Quinn took over defensive playcalling duties from Whitt after Week 10.
Washington’s defense finished the season ranked last in yards and 27th in points allowed – this represented a steep decline after finishing 18th in points and 13th in yards allowed the previous season.
This played a large role in Washington’s misfortune. The Commanders, 12-5 a year ago, finished 5-12 this season.
Kingsbury had one year left on his contract and is still getting paid Arizona CardinalsWho removed him from his position as head coach after the 2022 season. He is expected to explore head coaching opportunities.
Washington’s offense hit with quarterback injuries in 2025 jayden daniels Only four complete games and playing receiver Terry McLaurin Only nine are playing. Both players made the Pro Bowl last season.
The commander also started running behind Austin Ekeler (Achilles) and tight ends in the second week of the season zack ertz (Torn ACL) in Week 14.
He finished 22nd in scoring and 22nd in yards passing. Last season, Washington finished fifth in points and seventh in yards, with Daniels winning Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. This marks the first time the franchise has finished in the top 10 in both yards and points since 2012.
Daniels and Kingsbury were almost always the first coaches and first players to arrive at the Commander’s facility. They will conduct walk-throughs in the practice bubble around 6 a.m. three days a week during the season
“I love working with Cliff,” Daniels said Monday. “Me and him have a special relationship. I just wish I could have been there more to play for him last year.”
But according to multiple team sources, there was division over what style of offense to execute moving forward, with Quinn wanting to run the ball more to control the clock and help the defense. The Commanders played 349 more games without a shutout than any other team – some Daniels and backups marcus mariota Both said they liked it.
Last week, Quinn said Kingsbury’s no-hitch offense added an element of preparation for the defense. But he stopped supporting this view.
“There are definitely elements that are like, ‘Well, this is cool, that’s not,'” Quinn said. “I would say you want to make sure you’re always emphasizing the things you can do best. And so, whether they string together runs, passes, and I think that’s something we’ll continue to look at, but it’s all about the player as well, and how do they work best and how does the team work best?
“With Jaden being comfortable in that space, not everyone works in his space, but he and Marcus are definitely confident, familiar with it.”
Washington is ninth in rushing yards — but only 25th in rushing yards from behind. The Commander ranks third in the number of carries by a quarterback, including scrambles. He stood first a year ago.
“To be able to run the football as well as we’ve been able to and basically run it more than anybody in the league this year is unique and new to me and that’s the style we need to play,” Kingsbury said recently.
But he also remained optimistic on his no-huddle approach.
“I’ve seen it happen at a high level, whether it’s Arizona or here at a very high level and win games and gain a lot of yards, have a lot of success in that regard,” he said. “I have full confidence in that style of play when the pieces are in place you can play a really high level of play and it is very challenging offensively to stop that.”
Meanwhile, Whitt joined Washington’s staff when Quinn was hired in January 2024, but the two had spent the previous four seasons together. Whitt served as atlanta falcons Pass game coordinator under Quinn in 2020 and held the same title in Dallas from 2021-23 when Quinn was the defensive coordinator.
He did not call plays until joining Washington’s staff.
The Commanders’ defense was affected by injuries as both starting defensive ends (dietrich wise jr And dorrance armstrong) suffered season-ending injuries. Wise missed the final 15 games while Armstrong missed the final 10.
Also, both starting corners– marshon latimore (Torn ACL) and trey amos — were ruled out for the season with injuries in Weeks 9 and 10, respectively. strong security start Will Harris Missed eight games due to a broken fibula.
