Report: Joe Whitt Jr. joining Dan Quinn on Washington Commanders' staff as defensive coordinator

Dan Quinn is already making additions to his staff with the Washington Commanders after becoming their head coach last week. Now, as of Sunday night, that looks to include at least one more coach that was with his defense in Dallas.

Per Steve Wyche of the NFL Network, Joe Whitt Jr., the Cowboys’ secondary coach, will be joining Quinn in the nation’s capital as the Commanders’ defensive coordinator. He had spent the past few seasons with Dallas but will now follow Quinn to one of their division rivals.

Joe Whitt Jr. is following Dan Quinn to Washington as the Commanders defensive coordinator. Whitt was the Cowboys secondary coach and passing game coordinator.

— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) February 5, 2024

Whitt Jr. joined the Cowboys’ staff back in 2021 to coach the pass defense out of the secondary.

He, along with Quinn, helped Dallas’ defense post some of the best numbers in the NFL over the past few years. The unit finished in the Top-10 in the league in each of their three seasons on staff. That included allowing under 200 passing yards per game on an average of a 60.9% completion rate. That included picking off 59 passes in comparison to the 68 pass touchdowns that they allowed.

Whitt Jr. has coached alongside both Quinn as well as Mike McCarthy before. He worked with Quinn in the same role with the Atlanta Falcons. He previously worked with both when they were all together with the Green Bay Packers before all reconnecting in Dallas. Whitt Jr. also coached with the Cleveland Browns at one point.

Whitt Jr. started his coaching career at the collegiate level with Louisville and The Citadel. He did so after a playing career where he was a wide receiver at Auburn.

Washington officially hired Quinn as their next head coach to succeed Ron Rivera on Thursday. He now already has his two most important roles filled with Whitt Jr. set to become defensive coordinator and Kliff Kingsbury coming in as the offensive coordinator.

Dallas found a lot of success on the defensive side of the ball with the work from Quinn and Whitt Jr. Those accomplishments are now headed east, though, in order to help Washington compete in the NFC East moving forward.

Commanders to hire Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator

Peter Schrager reported on Sunday that Kliff Kingsbury has agreed to terms to become the next offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders.

Kingsbury will return to the NFL after spending last season as a senior offensive analyst at USC under Lincoln Riley. That was after working the previous four seasons as the head coach for the Arizona Cardinals.

Kingsbury became the Cardinals’ head coach in 2019. He ended his four seasons with the franchise with a 28-37 record and one playoff appearance.

Kingsbury also applied for offensive coordinator jobs with the Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, and the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason. He withdrew his name from consideration for the Raiders’ job on Saturday with Las Vegas now expected to hire Luke Getsy.

Washington is hoping that Kingsbury can now come in and generate some success with the Commanders’ next quarterback with many anticipating the franchise to select a quarterback with their No. 2 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.