The Commanders fired offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. on Tuesday. They also have moved on from offensive line coach Bobby Johnson, Nicki Jhabvala of TheAthletic.com reports.
Johnson joined the Commanders in 2024 when Dan Quinn was hired as head coach.
His first NFL coaching job came as assistant offensive line coach with the Bills in 2010-11. He also has coached for the Jaguars, Lions, Raiders, Colts and Giants.
Johnson has been an offensive line coach the past seven seasons, three with the Bills (2019-21), two with he Giants (2022-23) and two with the Commanders (2024-25).
Quinn will head into his third season with several new assistants, including new coordinators, and on the hot seat.
The Commanders are re-shaping their assistants under head coach Dan Quinn.
According to multiple reports, both offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. will not return to Washington for 2026.
Kingsbury and Quinn elected to mutually part ways after having a conversation on Tuesday about the direction of the offense, reports indicate. Kingsbury will now be able to pursue other opportunities, including head coach vacancies. Kingsbury accumulated a 28-37-1 record as Cardinals head coach from 2019-2022.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels had expressed his desire for Kingsbury to remain in his role when speaking to reporters on Monday.
“I love working with Kliff. Me and him have a special relationship,” Daniels said, via Tashan Reed of the Washington Post. “I kind of just wish I was out there more to play for him this past year.”
Whitt was demoted during the season from his play-calling duties, with Quinn taking them back.
After reaching the NFC Championship Game in 2024, Washington finished 5-12 in 2025. The offense ranked No. 22 in points scored and total yards while the club’s defense was No. 27 in points allowed and No. 32 in yards allowed.
Jayden Daniels played all 17 games as a rookie in 2024, winning 12 regular-season games and leading the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game. He played only seven games in 2025, finishing only four of those, and the Commanders won only five games.
Daniels had knee, hamstring and elbow injuries.
He will spend the offseason working out and determining what can keep him healthy in 2026.
“That’s the focus for me in this offseason — just rebuilding myself from the ground up,” Daniels said Monday, via Miles Jordan of USA Today. “That’s the most important thing — to be available for my team.”
Daniels said he feels like he let down the Commanders in 2025. Marcus Mariota started eight games and Josh Johnson two in subbing for Daniels this season.
“I think I can always grow and mature,” Daniels said. “The best ability for myself is availability. If I am not out there, I am kind of hurting the team, and my number one job is to protect the team.
Commanders edge rusher Von Miller had a sack in Sunday’s win over the Eagles, giving him nine for the season. It was the edge rusher’s most sacks since he had 9.5 in 2021.
Miller, 36, has 138.5 sacks in his career, which ties him with DeMarcus Ware for the ninth-most since sacks became an official stat in 1982. He is only 3.5 from ranking sixth all time.
Miller said Monday he wants to continue his career, and he hopes that means a return to the Commanders.
Miller, though, becomes a free agent in March.
“I’ll be 37 years old in March,” Miller said, via JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington. “I think I proved to myself I can play another year. I want to be here, but I’m not in a position to start making demands and saying where I want to play and where I want to be at. Whoever wants me, that’s where I’ll be. But I definitely proved to myself that I can play next year. I would love to be a Commander. I got my house here. Kids got all type of Commanders’ gear and stuff. DQ [Dan Quinn] does a great job of keeping me healthy and ready to go as far as vet days and rest, and I would love to be able to run that back.”
Miller had seven double-digit sack seasons. He earned defensive rookie of the year honors in 2011 and Super Bowl 50 MVP honors to end the 2015 season.
He admits it came easily to him early in his career.
“The older I got, the harder I tried,” Miller said, via Nicki Jhabvala of TheAthletic.com. “I don’t have any regrets in my career or anything that I did. But I do wish I did things a little bit differently. I just wish I would’ve tried harder from the get-go. When I was athletic, bouncy, springy, bendy, I wish I would’ve tried harder then, given my all then. Because I’m certainly giving my all at 36 years old. I wish I would’ve had that same mindset when I was younger.”
There was an opportunity for the Eagles to move up to the No. 2 seed in the NFC on Sunday, but the team wasn’t able to grab it.
Commanders quarterback Josh Johnson broke a tie by running for a one-yard touchdown with 2:32 left to play and the Commanders defense was able to force a Tanner McKee incompletion on fourth down to get the ball back with just over a minute to play. The Eagles had all three timeouts and they forced a punt that gave McKee another chance from his own 28-yard line with 53 seconds left to play.
McKee threw two incompletions and Von Miller sacked him on third down to set up a long fourth down to keep hopes alive. McKee’s desperate heave went out of bounds and the Commanders had a 24-17 win.
The victory means the Bears will be the No. 2 seed despite their loss to the Lions on Sunday. The Eagles will be the No. 3 seed and they will host the 49ers in their first playoff game. The Bears will host the Packers in their third meeting of the season.
Wide receiver DeVonta Smith was one of the only regulars to see action for the Eagles. He had three catches for 52 yards to get over the 1,000-yard mark for the season and then exited the game. McKee was 21-of-40 for 241 yards, a touchdown and an interception while Tank Bigsby ran 16 times for 75 yards and a touchdown.
Johnson’s rushing touchdown was his first since the 2018 season and he also tied the game with a touchdown pass earlier in the fourth quarter. He will turn 40 in the coming months, so there’s a chance Sunday’s game was his last and he’ll get to savor a win if that turns out to be the case.
