Washington head coach Dan Quinn on Commanders coaching staff: "Everything needs to be and is being thoroughly examined and discussed."
The first domino to drop this offseason will likely be what changes are made to the Washington Commanders' coaching staff, but in Monday's end of season press conference with local media, head coach Dan Quinn admitted "we're not able to go there yet."
"Everything needs to be and is being thoroughly examined and discussed," Quinn said to open his press conference.
"After a hard season like this, hard decisions are made, but you want to go through everything. From evaluation, the communication, the performances. And so we begin that as coaches. Coaches and scouts, we get together, we talk a lot about the players. We had the exit interviews today so Adam [Peters] and I also visited with a lot of players, and that's part of how we're gathering all of our information."
All the talk will be centered around both coordinators for different reasons with defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. demoted midseason and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury reportedly expected to draw head coaching interest from the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants among other openings.
The news also comes on the same day that several more head coaching vacancies became official with the Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals moving on from Pete Carroll and Jonathan Glennon, becoming the fourth and fifth vacancy with the offseason still new. Whether Kingsbury materializes into a legitimate candidate in the growing list of vacancies remains to be seen with Quinn emphasizing everything is under review.
That includes whether Dan Quinn will remain as the defense's play caller in 2026.
“I think what I've learned is make the best decision for what the team needs," Quinn said. "And so as we're going through this, man, a lot to gain through these exit interviews, where we're at but that's really where I'm at. [I’m] not into that space yet [to say] I'm definitely doing this, I'm definitely not. What I do know [is] that I'll be heavily involved one way or another and that's part that I do enjoy but I think I'll keep an open mind as I'm going through the next parts of the process. "
General manager Adam Peters admitted to hands-off approach when it comes to staffing.
“I'm really just here to support DQ. The coaching staff is DQ’s and I'm always here to help, like during the season and offseason however I can. To help support him and help him make the decisions that he needs to make."
Quinn also explained what he looks for when filling out his coaching staff.
"When you're putting a staff together, like prior to coming here, you wanted to, one it's the talent of the coach but also the fit. And it's not a hell of a lot different than like from Adam's side and a player adding it to the group. You've heard us talk about Commanders and it's really no different on that side.Iit's the fit, it's the talent. What do they bring that's unique? And that's a great question, man, but to make communicate, collaborate, a unique skill set to teach. I think that's the A, number one top of the pile when you're teaching. Part of this is why you need to know this specific skill. This is for the game, for the coaches that make it come to life, I think that's what you see when the players can perform at their best."