It didn’t come as much of a surprise when the Washington Commanders fired defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. following a 5-12 season in 2025.
What did come as a surprise was that the Commanders also decided to part ways with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who seemed to take the lion’s share of the blame for Washington going from the NFC Championship Game in 2024 to 1 of the NFL’s worst teams just 1 year later.
ESPN’s Seth Walder singled out firing Kingsbury as the move by Washington he disliked the most in handing out offseason grades to all 32 NFL teams on Tuesday.
Considering the Commanders won 5 games while playing the majority of their season without their 2 best players due to injuries. Quarterback Jayden Daniels missed 10 games, and NFL All-Pro wide receiver Terry McLaurin missed a career-high 7 games.
“Washington opened its offseason by firing both Kingsbury and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.,” Walder wrote. “The former dismissal was a curious choice. Although the Commanders massively disappointed by going 5-12 in 2025, the defense was the biggest culprit, ranking 30th in EPA per play. Of course, quarterback Jayden Daniels’ injuries didn’t help — nor did his late-down efficiency crashing back to Earth after a banner 2024 — but the fact that the Commanders were middle of the pack in offensive EPA per play without Daniels for half the season (and were actually more efficient without him!) is a testament to the offensive coaching. If anyone should have been on the hot seat after 2025, I think it should have been head coach Dan Quinn, not Kingsbury.”
In the NFL, if we know anything about head coaches, it’s that when 1 is on the hot seat, they can usually buy themselves 1 more year, at least, by firing their coordinators, which is what Quinn chose to do.
Rams Quick to Hire Kliff Kingsbury After Firing
Kingsbury didn’t stay unemployed for long. After being fired by the Commanders on January 6, he was hired as assistant head coach of the Los Angeles Rams exactly 1 month later.
“Sources: Former Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury is joining the Rams offensive staff to work with Sean McVay,” NFL insider Jordan Schultz wrote on X. “Kingsbury and McVay are close and have previously discussed working together for a full season — and now it’s happening for the 2026 campaign. At this point in his career, Kingsbury wants to continue growing as a coach and learn more about what it takes to be a head coach in the NFL again — including all the inner workings of the job that people don’t get to see. There’s no better place to do that than in LA.”
Daniels seemed to bite back somewhat against the firing of Kingsbury, who he had a real connection with. The Commanders replaced Kingsbury by promoting assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough.
“Man (losing Kingbury) is tough,” Daniels said during an appearance on Radio Row at the Super Bowl. “Obviously I trust what the organization is doing, and it was tough. I have a relationship with him (Kliff), wish him nothing but the best, but I’m also excited to get to work with Blough.”
Kliff Kingsbury Butted Heads With Commanders GM
Following the year, stories began to circulate about a disconnect between Kingsbury and Commanders general manager Adam Peters.
Kingsbury was a head coaching candidate for many of the open jobs and certainly would be again in 2027 with some success with the Rams, who are Super Bowl favorites in 2026 after making it to the NFC Championship Game following the 2025 season.
“I don’t believe that Adam Peters is telling the coaching staff who to play …. Kliff Kingsbury leaked that because he’s mad they have different philosophies on how to play the offense,” Commanders superfan Zac wrote on his official X account on January 7.
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