The Washington Commanders have finalized its 2026 special teams coaching staff after bringing back a familiar name to the organization
The Washington Commanders have finalized the special teams staff for the 2026 season after bringing back a familiar name to the organization on Tuesday morning.
John Glenn - no, not the astronaut - is set to return to the organization where he will serve as an assistant special teams coach. Glenn returns under special teams coordinator Larry Izzo and assistant special teams coach Brian Schneider, yet head coach Dan Quinn noted in January that Schneider was quietly going through cancer treatment dating back through to 2025 season.
Glenn spent the 2024 season as the linebackers coach of the Las Vegas Raiders under head coach Pete Carroll. The two also worked together with the Seattle Seahawks with Glenn serving as the linebackers coach beginning 2018 through 2023. Glenn also spent 12 consecutive seasons coaching with the Seahawks after first joining in 2012, serving in a variety of roles after beginning his coaching career in the college ranks.
Yet the latest hire marks a reunion for Washington given Glenn served as the assistant special teams coach in 2024. The Commanders had success during Glenn's season with the organization after the team produced four players either named to the Pro Bowl or tabbed as alternates in Nick Bellore, Jeremy Reaves, Tyler Ott and Tress Way. He will now inherit a unit that re-signed Way to a new one year deal, the first player to re-sign this offseason, while the Commanders also brought back kicker Jake Moody after ending the 2025 season with the team making all but one of his 11 attempts.
The added intrigue with the return of Glenn is that he also coached veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner in Seattle. Wagner, of course, remains an available free agent while both Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters once again left the door open for the future Hall of Fame linebacker to return to the organization should he opt to do so.
Glenn also becomes the latest addition to the coaching staff after the team previously announced its updated 2026 coaching staff last month following the coordinator hires and flurry of position coach and title changes on both sides of the ball.
A native of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Glenn was a three-year letter winner at linebacker and a starter on East Stroudsburg University's 2004 and 2005 NCAA playoff teams, while also becoming a two-year letter winner in basketball in both 2001-02 and 2002-03.