Dan Quinn took the Washington Commanders from a 4-13 team to the NFC Championship Game in just one season. Then things went sideways. Quinn's first season in Washington was about as good as anyone could have hoped.
The Commanders went 12-5 in 2024 and made a surprising run to the NFC Championship Game. The follow-up was a very different story. Washington fell to 5-12 in 2025, and Quinn acknowledged that he missed the mark in several areas.
Rather than simply running it back, he made major changes to his coaching staff, firing both coordinators. Now, Zachary Pereles of CBS Sports has Quinn in the hot seat heading into 2026, with the Commanders needing to show that last year's collapse was a setback rather than the beginning of a bigger problem. More sports: Giants’ Malachi Fields Could Get a Bigger Workload Now, Quinn is putting his faith in two first-time coordinators.
David Blough, just 30 years old and on a practice squad as recently as 2023, takes over as offensive coordinator. Daronte Jones will lead the defense for the first time as a coordinator. The Commanders have also overhauled their defensive personnel, meaning there are plenty of new pieces for Quinn to get working together.
The biggest reason for optimism might be quarterback Jayden Daniels, who reportedly looks excellent in training camp. That's a pretty important piece of the equation for Quinn. If Daniels can build on what he's shown and the new-look coaching staff gets the most out of him, Washington could quickly look more like the team that reached the NFC Championship Game than the one that limped to five wins last season.
Sports news: Raiders Rookie Was Wildly Impressive in Preseason Debut But, that's also why the pressure is rising. Quinn has already shown that he can engineer a dramatic turnaround. The problem is that he also experienced a dramatic reversal the following year.
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