ASHBURN — While rookie sensation Jayden Daniels learned how to be an NFL quarterback, Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt was figuring out how to be a professional play-caller.
After a shaky start, Whitt found his footing as he helped the Commanders to a 12-5 record and their first playoff win in 19 years.
“Early on in the season, I was trying to call plays perfectly. In this situation, I’m supposed to do this,” Whitt said Wednesday. “After the third game, I said, ‘To hell with that. I’m going to call it the way I want to call it,’ and we started playing a hell of a lot better.”
The rising tide of the Commanders’ unexpectedly electric season has lifted all boats, including those of Whitt and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. The pair have become head-coaching candidates while focusing on an impending playoff matchup with the juggernaut Detroit Lions.
Kingsbury, who served as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2019-23, was the first to garner attention — and for good reason. Rookie signal-caller Jayden Daniels has looked like a franchise quarterback in Kingsbury’s offense, which torched the league with record levels of efficiency.
Though the explosive attack cooled down in the second half of the season, Washington’s offensive mastermind became a hot coaching candidate in the last month. The Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints both requested interviews with Kingsbury.
Whitt followed suit, eliciting interest from the New York Jets earlier this week.
Neither coach publicly acknowledged the opportunities to reporters, though Kingsbury said earlier this season he’d love to become a head coach again.
“My whole focus is on Detroit. If I put any effort or energy into anything else other than this opportunity we have, I’ll be cheating these men,” Whitt said, echoing Kingsbury’s earlier sentiment. “So that’s the only thing I’m concerned with right now.”
While Washington’s players rave about their coaches now, the fan reaction was much different back in February. Whitt, a first-time coordinator, didn’t inspire a ton of confidence. Neither did Kingsbury, who developed a reputation as a stale play-caller who the league had figured out by his final 4-13 season in 2022.
“The problem has always been sequencing and tying the offense together,” analyst Derrick Klaasen of the 33rd team wrote. “He understands how to beat coverages and run looks in a vacuum, but not how to paint a clear, cohesive picture with his play calls. That’s good enough to get by, but not enough to seriously scare defenses.”
He scared defenses in 2024. With Daniels under center, the Commanders boasted a balanced attack that ranked seventh in total yards and fifth in points scored per game.
Kingsbury says his time away from the NFL in 2023 prepared him for this opportunity. He took a back seat as an assistant at USC last season to reassess what went wrong for him in Arizona.
“He’s just growing. I don’t think there’s one particular thing that you can pinpoint,” said tight end Zach Ertz, who played for Kingsbury with the Cardinals. “It’s just been steady growth, learning players, learning people’s personalities. He’s done a phenomenal job this year.”
The long-time offensive guru found a new perspective in Washington, focusing on relationships with his fellow coaches and players under head coach Dan Quinn’s tutelage.
“Every year you take something. This year it was just being able to move some of the pieces around and do some different things offensively,” Kingsbury said before lauding his assistants. “That has probably been as big as anything, just relationships with those guys and learning from them.”
Without Kingsbury’s head coaching pedigree, Whitt has been on his own journey of self-discovery to figure out what kind of play-caller he is. This season marked his first shot as a coordinator after 16 years coaching defensive backs with the Packers, Browns, Falcons and Cowboys.
He came to the District with plans to set an identity.
“We’re going to run and put our bodies on people in a violent manner,” Whitt promised in his opening press conference.
Washington’s defense didn’t become a world-beating unit this season, ranking near the middle of the league in most metrics, but Whitt has left an imprint on the Commanders’ defenders. His “ball is life” motto, which values aggressiveness and turnovers, has left a mark on the locker room.
To reward players who take the ball away from opposing offenses, he started giving away martial arts-style belts called “swag towels” for defenders to display in the locker room. There’s a ranking system — a white belt for the first turnover, followed by black, burgundy and gold honors.
“They take a lot of pride in taking those and getting them, because at the end of the day, this is a kids’ game, and we’re all kids at heart,” Whitt said. “You play this game because you love it; that’s the way that we play in this building; you have to love it.”
With Whitt, Kingsbury and Quinn, the Commanders soared past the preseason expectations of a rebuilding team. After a 12-5 regular season, Washington won its first playoff game in more than 19 years on Sunday with a last-second field goal against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Another challenge awaits Saturday night when the Commanders face the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions at Ford Field as 9 ½-point underdogs.
• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.
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