Fans of Commanders evaluate Quinn, Kingsbury, and Whitt’s hire

Survey results!!

We asked readers of Hogs Haven to rate the head coach and both coordinator hiring choices in this week’s Reacts survey.

Remarkably comparable report cards were obtained for the hiring of defensive coordinator Joe Whitt, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, and head coach Dan Quinn.

About 30% of respondents gave each hire a “A” grade, roughly half gave them a “B,” and roughly 15% gave them a “C.” None of the hires received a lower mark from more than 5% of respondents.

Dan Quinn

Compared to the possibly riskier approach of choosing a younger and less experienced candidate, Quinn’s hiring appears to be the “safe” choice. The choice to not pursue the next hot young offensive coordinator, as so many teams have done since the Rams hired McVay in 2017 at the age of 30, is what Quinn symbolizes as the “anti-Sean McVay” move.

On the plus side, Dan Quinn seems to be the right person for Adam Peters, who had stated that he was searching for a leader. Following Quinn’s hire, we have heard testimonies from past coaches, players, and managers from a variety of teams and eras, all of whom praised Quinn’s leadership qualities. Quinn has demonstrated his ability to succeed on the field by winning an NFC Conference Championship as head coach and a Super Bowl as defensive coordinator. Throughout the last ten years, he has been successful as a defensive coordinator in both Dallas and Seattle.

Quinn’s seeming lack of on-field success without Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator and the Falcons’ 4th-quarter collapse to lose in their only super bowl appearance of the millennium are the opposing sides of the coin.

But part of Quinn’s acknowledged skill set is also finding and hiring quality personnel. For this reason, his selection of Kingsbury and Whitt to manage the offense and defense, respectively, is intriguing and has received mixed reviews overall, especially with regard to Kliff Kingsbury.

Kiff Kingsbury

Kingsbury was not a very successful head coach in the NFL. His team, the Cardinals, lost in the wildcard round in his lone postseason season (2021) despite his winning five, eight, and eleven games in his first three seasons. Kingsbury was apparently given a 6-year contract extension at the beginning of 2022, but after a miserable 4-13-1 season, he was fired. With a 4-season record of 28-37-1, he concluded his one and only NFL head coaching tenure.

Naturally, head coaches and coordinators have different responsibilities. Although Kingsbury’s time in Arizona may have ended in chaos, his offensive prowess is what earned him the position in Washington.

Joe Whitt

Whitt had expressed his desire to go wherever Dan Quinn was, even when Dan Quinn was still working in Dallas. Whitt was a member of Quinn’s Atlanta staff and followed him to Dallas when Quinn was hired as the defensive coordinator in 2021, despite Whitt’s prior relationship with Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy. Following Quinn once more, he is now in Washington, DC, where Whitt will be working.

It seems like Washington supporters are just taking Whitt’s appointment as coordinator as a first-timer on faith. Dallas’ defense and secondary were undoubtedly superior to the Commanders’ overall play, and if Quinn believes in Whitt and gives him credit for most of Dallas’ success, then Washington supporters may be willing to do the same.

Coaches in positions and the coordinator of special teams
Later in the week, following the majority of respondents’ polling, additional information regarding Washington’s coaching staff became available.

Brian Johnson, who was the Eagles offensive coordinator in 2023, has joined the offensive coaching staff. His exact title hasn’t yet been announced, but it is anticipated that he will be involved with the quarterbacks, perhaps as the passing game coordinator. The sticking point on his job title is that the current QB coach, Tavita Pritchard, is remaining with the team. In much the same way as Kingsbury’s struggles as head coach of the Cardinals doesn’t necessarily dim his prospects for success as OC in Washington, the fact that Brian Johnson was fired from the Philly staff at the end of the ‘23 season doesn’t really diminish what he’d done in his career to get to that position. Many people have looked at the pairing of Kingsbury and Johnson as a sign that Quinn is putting together an impressive staff on the offensive side of the ball, though there has been some concern expressed about whether Kingsbury, Johnson and Pritchard might mean that a young Washington quarterback may end up with too many competing voices in his ear.

Fans of Washington are perhaps less familiar with Jason Simmons. He comes from the defensive end of the ball and the coaching staff of the Raiders. He oversaw the defensive passing game in Vegas, and it sounds like he’ll play a similar role in Washington.

Nate Kaczor is reportedly leaving his position as Special Teams coordinator to be filled by Larry Izzo. After Ron Rivera came to town, Kaczor, who had initially joined Jay Gruden’s coaching staff, was retained. He hasn’t made it through another coaching change. Izzo was the coordinator for the Seahawks ST, and he was unquestionably successful. The Seahawks replaced longstanding head coach Pete Carroll with former Ravens defensive coordinator Peter Carroll last offseason, which appears to be the only reason he is available.

As a player for the New England Patriots, Izzo won three Super Bowl titles. In the last three NFL seasons, his special teams units in Seattle were ranked fifth, fourth, and eighth in DVOA, respectively.

Concluding remarks
From reading comments on Hogs Haven, listening to podcasts, and scrolling through what used to be Twitter, I get the impression that fans of Washington were a little taken aback by how the coaching search concluded early on. Additionally, I think that the initial outcry over Dan Quinn’s hiring was subdued because Quinn’s hiring wasn’t what was anticipated, and his age and NFL experience were the exact opposite of what supporters had been anticipating.

After a few days after the initial shock has subsided, I sense that supporters are beginning to accept the hire and that each addition to the 2024 coaching staff is contributing to this process.

Even while supporters aren’t exactly dancing in the streets, I believe that a certain amount of acceptance is already growing and that a quiet optimism is starting to emerge. Though we might not have received what we were hoping for, the coaching staff seems to be coming together rather well.

As we usher in the next exciting chapter of Washington football history, the focus should now go to the roster with veteran free agency about to begin in just over 4 weeks.