The Washington Commanders came into the 2025 season as one of the exciting young teams to look out for in the league. The excitement around the franchise didn’t exactly last long.
The Commanders signed a bunch of veterans that didn’t pan out heading into the season, were on contentious terms with star wide receiver Terry McLaurin, and dealt with injuries seemingly from start to finish, including to star quarterback Jayden Daniels.
All of these led to Washington missing the playoffs entirely, just one season after making it to the NFC Championship. As was to be expected, changes to the coaching staff were soon to follow after the regular season wrapped, with the team parting ways with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.
However, there was attrition on the sidelines even during Washington’s tumultuous season, with quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard departing to become the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal, where he’ll work closely with Andrew Luck.
David Blough served as Pritchard’s replacement for the rest of the season, but the Commanders have now nabbed their permanent coach for the role, according to one prominent insider around the league.
“Commanders are hiring former Falcons QBs coach D.J. Williams as their QB coach, per sources. D.J. is the son of Washington legend Doug Williams, an executive in the Commanders’ front office,” reported ESPN’s senior NFL insider Adam Schefter on Wednesday.
Commanders are hiring former Falcons QBs coach D.J. Williams as their QB coach, per sources. D.J. is the son of Washington legend Doug Williams, an executive in the Commanders’ front office.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 15, 2026
It’ll be interesting to see if Williams and Daniels can work together to get the young quarterback back to his rookie-season form.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.