The Washington Commanders have filled its first position on the 2026 offensive staff under coordinator David Blough with D.J. Williams leaving Atlanta for DC.
The Washington Commanders have reportedly filled its first offensive coaching role under new coordinator David Blough.
Reports broke on Wednesday evening that the Washington Commanders are expected to hire DJ Williams as the next quarterbacks coach. News emerged earlier this week that the Commanders requested to interview DJ Williams, son of Washington legendary quarterback Doug Williams, who is also now an executive with the Commanders.
Williams also becomes the first assistant hired on David Blough's offensive staff.
He joins the organization after serving as the an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach of the Atlanta Falcons over the last two seasons where he worked with both quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix. Williams was elevated from assistant QBs coach to quarterbacks coach following the 2024 season in his final promotion with the organization.
Williams initially joined the Falcons staff after spending five seasons as an offensive assistant with the New Orleans Saints. He also served as an assistant during Saints training camp back in 2017 before working with the organization's coaches and football operations department in 2018.
Williams graduated from Grambling State in 2015 where he played under Doug Williams and won the SWAC Football Championship Game over Alabama AM in 2011. He then went undrafted and drew tryouts with both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, quickly shifting to the coaching route.
He also participated in the NFL/Black College Football Hall of Fame Quarterback Coaching Summit for three years while serving as the National Team quarterbacks coach at the 2023 Senior Bowl.
Raheem Morris complemented Williams as "an impressive interview" after hiring him in Atlanta, and now, he'll head to the Commanders looking to fill a key role.
Similar to Atlanta, Williams will now work with another young quarterback with Jayden Daniels entering a pivotal year three with the organization and dealing with arguably his biggest dose of adversity in his young NFL career.
The son of a franchise legend emerged as the second known candidate for the quarterbacks coach vacancy after reports that the Commanders requested to interview Panthers assistant Mike Bercovici, who worked with quarterback Jayden Daniels while serving as a grad assistant at Arizona State.
It also marks a critical hire for the Commanders, who now look to bounce back on offense with Blough looking to provide stability to an offense that lacked consistency in 2025. The revamped offensive staff comes just over one week after head coach Dan Quinn parted ways with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, paving the way for a critical month of hiring ahead of a busy offseason filled with question marks along the roster.
Williams also takes over a quarterback room with two quarterbacks signed on next year's roster with Sam Hartman, who has yet to take an NFL snap, joining Jayden Daniels. Whether the Commanders turn back to a familiar veteran like Marcus Mariota or Josh Johnson remains to be seen, but with Williams' hire now official, the new-look coaching staff will be able to begin mapping out the roster plan to restock to room ahead of the 2026 season.