The field of defensive coordinator openings have been picked over to the point the Washington Commanders, at the point of making a hire now, have strayed far, far away from their preferred choice.
Still, the Commanders need to fill the role, if only to be able to spread the blame around again when things go bad in 2026 — if only to keep lame duck head coach Dan Quinn’s job for a few more weeks when ownership inevitably comes calling.
“Source: Commanders are finalizing a deal to hire Vikings defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Daronte Jones as their defensive coordinator,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on Monday. “Jones has been one of Brian Flores’ most trusted defensive coaches the past three seasons, and he also has coached under Vance Joseph and Mike Zimmer.”
Quinn took over defensive play calling duties Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. on November 10. Whitt was fired after 2 seasons on January 6, and after the Commanders went 5-12 in a season they entered with Super Bowl hopes.
Whitt has spent 2 seasons as a defensive coordinator at the college level previous to being hired by the Commanders; at Bowie State from 2005 to 2009 and at LSU in 2021.
The Commanders finished dead last in the NFL in team defense in 2025, giving up an average of 384.0 yards per game.
Hiring Jones: Bad Sign for Commanders in 2026
If you want to know how stable a head coach’s job is, simply look at what happens when they try to fill coordinator openings — in the case of the Commanders there’s a reason they end up with Jones and not with one of their top choices like Raheem Morris or Jonathan Gannon.
Potential coordinator candidates need simply ask themselves one question: Do I want to take a job where there’s a large chance I’ll be looking for another job one year from now? In Washington, that almost seems like a certainty.
Not only do the Commanders not have any players you can build around on defense, they don’t even have any players on defense you can say might even help them make that leap.
Swings and Misses With High Profile Candidates
Jones, 47 years old, has an extensive history with Quinn. He was the passing game coordinator and secondary coach on the Atlanta Falcons in Quinn’s final season as head coach in 2021 and held the same role on the Dallas Cowboys from 2021 to 2023, when Quinn was defensive coordinator.
The Commanders only come too Jones after taking big swings on a pair of high profile hires — both recently fired NFL head coaches.
The Commanders interviewed Gannon, the recently fired Arizona Cardinals head coach, on January 12.
“Former Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon has a busy week ahead,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on X. ” … his interview schedule is as follows: Cowboys for DC (Tuesday) — Commanders for DC Thursday — Titans for HC Sunday.”
On January 21, reports surfaced the Commanders might be reaching out to Morriis, who was fired as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons on January 6.
“Raheem Morris is waiting out head coaching chances — he’s involved in Arizona search — but is expected to have multiple defensive coordinator looks should he not get a head job, per sources,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote on X on Wednesday, January 21. “Morris has close ties to Kyle Shanahan (SF), Matt LaFleur (GB) and Dan Quinn (WSH).”
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