The Washington Commanders will now not add a second college assistant to the defensive staff after a change of heart of Monday night
Two days after news broke of another possible addition to the makeup of the 2026 defensive staff for the Washington Commanders, head coach Dan Quinn and new coordinator Daronte Jones will have to turn elsewhere.
LSU safeties coach Jake Olsen is now expected to remain with the LSU Tigers despite initially accepting the job with Washington, per Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports. The news roughly two months after head coach Lane Kiffin named Olsen one of a handful of assistant coaches expected to remain with the Tigers after taking over at LSU, marking it a notable win for LSU and a loss of a quality defensive assistant to add to a revamped defensive staff for the Commanders.
The connection came through the Commanders new defensive coordinator after Olsen worked on the LSU defensive staff under Daronte Jones during the 2021 season.
While it served as an expected notable addition for Washington, what role he would have joined with the Commanders remained unclear given Tommy Donatell was announced as the current safeties coach and William Gay serving as cornerbacks coach among several new staff additions, but he would have been be another piece to a defensive staff looking to turn the page from an abysmal season under Joe Whitt Jr.
The possible addition of Olsen also made the possibility of one of two - or both - former Tiger defensive backs as attractive NFL Draft targets given cornerback Mansoor Delane and safety AJ Haulcy fill major needs for the Commanders and are projected to land within reach the team's current selections. While both could still materialize into realistic targets, Olsen's change of heart gives the Commanders new look staff one less set of familiar eyes on the former top SEC tandem. Washington has found itself linked to a long list of defensive prospects through the first month of the offseason, though one analyst made the case for wide receiver Carnell Tate in 2026.
Olsen was also set to become the second college coach to join the Commanders staff this offseason after the team previously named Eric Henderson, former USC co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach, as the new defensive line coach in 2026.
Washington also previously announced that Darryl Tapp was re-assigned and will now serve under Henderson as the new assistant defensive line coach, while George Banko will be moved to assistant linebackers coach. John Pagano will also step in as the team's outside linebackers coach, though the expectation remains that the Commanders add a front seven specialist to the coaching staff this offseason.
The team has yet to announce any additional staff moves beyond last week's press conference when the team formally introduced David Blough and Daronte Jones as the new offensive and defensive coordinator in 2026, now set to take over ahead of a pivotal year three for head coach Dan Quinn.