The Washington Commanders have their offensive coordinator, bringing in former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, to lead the offense for new head coach Dan Quinn, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones. reports.
And it didn’t take long for the Commanders to have their new defensive coordinator as well, as Dan Whitt Jr. follows Dan Quinn to Washington, NFL Media reported shortly after the Kingsbury news broke. Whitt was the Cowboys secondary coach and passing game coordinator under Quinn.
Kingsbury will head to Washington after negotiations with the Las Vegas Raiders broke down this weekend. The Commanders have the second overall pick and $73.6 million in projected cap space (per Over The Cap) this offseason, the first under the Josh Harris ownership group. Adam Peters was hired as general manager and Quinn was named head coach, with Kingsbury the next move.
Kingsbury served as an offensive analyst for USC last season after being fired by Arizona last January. He was 28-37-1 over four seasons with the Cardinals and reached the playoffs in 2021 after going 11-6. After a 5-10-1 campaign in his first NFL season, Kingsbury improved his win total by three wins each over the next two years.
Things fell apart in 2022, however, as Arizona finished in last place in the NFC West with a 4-13 record. Previously, Kingsbury was head coach at Texas Tech and offensive coordinator at Texas A&M the year Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy.
Since Kingsbury was an offensive analyst at USC, he looked all season at Caleb Williams, the quarterback expected to be a top-three pick (at least) in the draft. The Chicago Bears have the No. 1 pick and already have a quarterback on their roster in Justin Fields, although they could trade Fields and select Williams.
If Chicago doesn’t trade Fields, Washington is in a prime position to select Williams at No. 2 — which would constitute a “reunion” with Kingsbury from last season.
Kingsbury will be tasked with improving an offense that finished 24th in points per possession (1.68) and 24th in yards per possession (26.9). The Commanders finished 23rd in offensive points per game (19.0) and yards per play (5.0).
Whitt has worked with Quinn in Dallas for the past three years. In those three seasons, Dallas was a top-five defense in points allowed. Washington’s defense ranked last in the NFL in points and yards allowed in 2023.
