"I can understand the hesitation because 'Why wasn't it somebody more experienced?' But we just don't know. These both could be home run hires, and you have to play it out."
"Blough is the biggest unknown, having spent most of the 2025 season working as Washington's assistant quarterbacks coach. He was promoted when Tavita Pritchard left to take the head coaching position at Stanford, and received another raise when the team parted ways with Kliff Kingsbury. Jones is a more proven commodity, though only at the positional level. He's been successful as the Minnesota Vikings' defensive backs coach under Brian Flores, but taking over control of an entire defense will be a big step up. He's only been a coordinator at the college level, most recently with LSU in 2021."
Washington named David Blough offensive coordinator and Daronte Jones defensive coordinator for the 2026 season. Neither has prior NFL coordinator experience, increasing risk as Dan Quinn faces a make-or-break year. Blough spent 2025 as Washington's assistant quarterbacks coach and moved up after internal staff changes. Jones has positional success as the Minnesota Vikings' defensive backs coach and prior college coordinator experience with LSU in 2021, but has not run an NFL defense. The roster will likely be significantly overhauled, expectations should be lower, and reaching .500 is a realistic objective while evaluating the new hires.
Read at Riggo's Rag
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