Fans, others react to Commanders' latest promotion

[ASFN Admin]

The Washington Commanders made a bold move on Monday, promoting assistant offensive line coach Darnell Stapleton to offensive line coach. This comes less than two weeks after head coach Dan Quinn promoted assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough to offensive coordinator.

Why is this a bold move? Blough had only two years of coaching experience when he was promoted. While many around the NFL, including everyone in Washington's building, believe the former NFL quarterback is a future coaching star, the 30-year-old had led only a position group for a couple of weeks late in the 2025 season, after Tavita Pritchard left to become Stanford's head coach.

Many believed that after firing offensive line coach Bobby Johnson and parting ways with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, the Commanders would look to bring in an experienced voice for Blough. Last week, Blough also hired former college teammate Danny Etling as the assistant quarterbacks coach, after hiring D.J. Williams to be the new quarterbacks coach.

Washington reportedly likes Stapleton's ability to develop players, and he received internal praise for first-round pick Josh Conerly's growth as a rookie in 2025. Stapleton and Blough worked together as assistant position coaches and are said to have a strong rapport.

Will this work for Washington? Only time will tell. Quinn is betting his future on it.

How did everyone receive the news that the Commanders promoted another young assistant coach? We surveyed some of the top reactions via X.

Mentioned Stapleton the other day on the podcast as a good possibility. Good rapport with the OL and was heavily involved in protection schemes and other aspects of the O. Aligned with Blough’s vision. https://t.co/LCBF5U1GXz

— John Keim (@john_keim) January 19, 2026

The moves make sense in a lot of ways. Stapleton has a good rapport with OC David Blough, is well-liked by players and was involved in game planning and protection plans last season. https://t.co/6tKA0tCnuN

— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) January 19, 2026

Dan Quinn disliked the offense enough to part with Kliff Kingsbury & Bobby Johnson but liked the offense enough to promote David Blough, Darnell Stapleton & Shane Toub.

Not saying any of this is wrong (there's a lot we don't know), but this is an unusual offensive-staff revamp.

— Al Galdi (@AlGaldi) January 19, 2026

With Stapleton being promoted, I think we're about to see the Commanders become a much more zone-based run team. Will be interesting to see if they get under center more or lean more on the pistol

— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) January 19, 2026

Stapleton has been an OL coach in college & played in the pros

Toub has been working with OL as a QC coach, & was the team captain of his team at Dayton as a Center.

Both have OL credentials certainly, still feels odd team’s leaning so heavy on limited experience in the roles https://t.co/cvWopL4LXH

— T “Resh” Manuel (@reshmanuel) January 19, 2026

This is an educated guess. Stapleton was part of zone team in college. Commanders OL is super athletic and suited to zone, so are the RBs & TEs.

Also, the briefing on Stapleton was "involved in protection plans", not run game. Run game under Kliff/Johnson was heavy gap scheme

— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) January 19, 2026

The #Commanders will essentially be rolling out the same offensive coaching staff MINUS Kliff Kingsbury and Tavita Pritchard.

On one hand, continuity is king for a young QB.

On the other, somewhat uninspiring hires with a cycle of good coaches out. #RaiseHailhttps://t.co/yOMYFuGhPa

— George Carmi (@Gcarmi21) January 19, 2026

Yeah…. Just seems odd to promote the assistants under the guys that were let go and hoping for a more desirable outcome. pic.twitter.com/B3Y6GWhlnw

— Filterle$$ (@tambascosauce69) January 19, 2026

Darnell Stapleton will get a up close look at the OL on the National side in the senior bowl — pretty excited about that.

— Cornelius Kidwell (@ExcuseTheHebrew) January 19, 2026

curious. https://t.co/dVAFS9ffMb

— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) January 19, 2026

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Fans, others react to Darnell Stapleton move

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