The Washington Commanders have promoted two more assistants to fill key vacancies along the 2026 coaching staff, including a former player.
After turning to an internal candidate to fill the offensive coordinator vacancy, the Washington Commanders and head coach Dan Quinn promoted two more assistants on Monday to fill two more spots on the 2026 coaching staff.
Multiple reports have pointed to Darnell Stapleton set to be promoted to new offensive line coach and Shane Toub promoted to assistant offensive line coach. Stapleton replaces Bobby Johnson, who was fired following the 2025 season on the same day that Kliff Kingsbury and Joe Whitt Jr. were dismissed as offensive and defensive coordinator.
Stapleton was recently named a possible name to know by ESPN's John Keim after noting he's someone the coaching staff is high on. Stapleton is in his third season with the organization and previously serving as the assistant offensive line coach, his first job in the NFL. He previously spent two seasons as the offensive line coach at Florida under Billy Napier after stints at Louisiana, Sam Houston, Bucknell and Rutgers. He also served as head coach of the New York Sharks, a member team in the Women's Football Alliance (WFA), back in 2018.
Stapleton also spent four seasons in the NFL including his first three with the Pittsburgh Steelers after signing as an undrafted free agent following the 2007 NFL Draft. He started the final 12 games of the 2008 season at right guard before being placed on injured reserve ahead of the 2009 season due to injury. He also played for the Florida Tuskers in the UFL during 2010 before closing out his playing career on the New England Patriots during the 2009 preseason.
He is also set to serve as one of two Commanders assistants coaching the National Team in the upcoming Senior Bowl, joining assistant William Game.
Toub, meanwhile, is now back for his fourth season with the organization after spending the prior three as an offensive quality control coach. He began his coaching career with the Chicago Bears where he spent the first two seasons as an offensive assistant coach beginning in 2018 before transitioning to a defensive quality control coach in 2020 for two seasons. His dad is Dave Toub, the current assistant head coach and special teams coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs.
The two become the latest hires on the offensive staff under first year coordinator David Blough with DJ Williams officially hired as the new quarterbacks coach and Danny Etling as the new assistant quarterbacks coach.
Of course, the defensive coordinator search remains ongoing, though whether the search picks up this week remains to be seen with one domino officially materializing on Monday morning after the Atlanta Falcons announced that Jeff Ulbrich will remain with the organization under new head coach Kevin Stefanski. Former Atlanta head coach Raheem Morris, former Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon, Seahawks pass game coordinator Karl Scott and Raiders defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson are among the several names reportedly in the mix to take over a defense in need of major upgrade.
As for Stapleton and Toub, they'll inherit an offensive line that hopes to extend Laremy Tunsil and re-sign Chris Paul to restock the protection for third-year quarterback Jayden Daniels as the Washington Commanders look to turn the page from their five-win season in 2025.