The Washington Commanders have now filled one of their two coordinator vacancies with David Blough promoted to offensive coordinator
After news broke that the Washington Commanders would move on from coordinators on both sides of the ball, head coach Dan Quinn has not wasted much time to proceed with interviews in filling those roles. And just four days later, Quinn has his new offensive coordinator.
Multiple reports have said the Commanders will turn internally and hire David Blough as the new offensive coordinator. Blough was one of five offensive coordinator interviews, per Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic, with Commanders tight ends coach David Raih and pass game coordinator Brian Johnson joining the pair of reported external interviews.
Blough was elevated to quarterbacks coach midway through the 2025 season in replacement of Tavita Pritchard, who was named the next head coach at Stanford. The promotion also eliminates the chances of head coach Dan Campbell bringing him in this offseason after reports emerged the Detroit Lions were expected to interview Blough for their vacant offensive coordinator role.
“David Blough will take the responsibilities of Tavita for the rest of the regular season,” Quinn said at the time of Blough’s promotion. “Definitely been prepared for this at this position or at others knowing that when opportunities are there for guys to elevate like Tavita. We’ve got a good succession plan in place and David will be a big part of that.”
ESPN’s John Keim pointed to Blough as being a realistic candidate for the Commanders. This marks his first coordinator role in his third season coaching after arriving alongside Kliff Kingsbury in 2024. Blough first arrived in Washington as assistant quarterbacks coach in 2024 and served in that role until his promotion.
Blough also spent five seasons playing in the NFL with stints with the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals before hanging up the cleats with the Lions in 2023.
“Part of the reason is they don't want to lose him to Detroit - or to anybody. I think this feels a little bit early. He's only been a couple for a couple of years, played for several years, so this would be little bit early for sure. He has no experience. He's only been assistant quarterbacks coach and then basically the quarterbacks coach for the last six, seven weeks or whatever it was,” Keim said in Friday’s podcast.
Whether Blough ends up materializing into the play caller in 2026 is now the biggest question mark given his inexperience. Keim also pointed out that Lions head coach Dan Campbell "could call the plays" given Blough's inexperience in a coordinator role, likening it to Mike LaFleur's role with Sean McVay as the Los Angeles Rams' play caller.
The Commanders also reportedly interview Cowboys tight ends coach Lunda Wells and Arizona passing game coordinator Drew Terrell while Ravens quarterbacks coach Tee Martin was expected to draw an interview for the vacancy with the Detroit Lions also interested.
The Commanders have reportedly interviewed several candidates for its vacant defensive coordinator position with news that Chiefs defensive line coach Joe Cullen interviewed on Friday. Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham was the first candidate interviewed for the defensive coordinator position, and unlike the offensive side of the ball, internal candidates are not expected to be in play to replace Joe Whitt Jr.