Joe Whitt Jr.'s mindset will play a major role in turning the Washington Commanders defense around
The NFL is full of some of the best athletes in the world, but said talent is typically wasted if they don't have good coaching in place. The Washington Commanders and its fanbase are hoping that's not the case as the team enters a brand new era under Dann Quinn and his staff, who were officially […]
The NFL is full of some of the best athletes in the world, but said talent is typically wasted if they don't have good coaching in place.
The Washington Commanders and its fanbase are hoping that's not the case as the team enters a brand new era under Dann Quinn and his staff, who were officially announced on Thursday. It's a staff that has a lot of coaching experience across the board – from former head coaches, down.
One of those coaches is new defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr., who is entering his 18th year as an NFL coach, albeit his first one as defensive coordinator.
For him, it's a promotion he's been waiting on since he was with the Green Bay Packers in 2015.
"I see a lot of these young guys get opportunities, years, years, years prior and nobody really questioned them," Whitt Jr. told reporters during his introductory press conference. "I've been ready, and just the opportunity, now, has come with Coach Quinn. The question of my ability to call a defense, to structure a defense, to do that – I have full confidence in that…
"… I probably felt that I was ready in 2015. That year, from a package standpoint, I had a great idea of what I wanted to do and how to get at the quarterback and understand how to manipulate the fronts, and then the pressure. So it was probably 2015 [when] I felt that I was ready, and [I] just haven't had an opportunity, since then."
A lot of times, guys who are forced to wait on an opportunity like this are ones who will do everything in their power to ensure they take full advantage of the situation. They're going to work their asses off, tirelessly, to get the best out of everyone on their side of the roster. It's a lot different than someone who quickly caught fire and didn't have to wait their turn, so to speak. Those situations can often be taken for granted or simply, weren't warranted, at the time.
With Whitt Jr., the Commanders defense is about to undergo a huge change – and in a great way. Sure, the bar is as low as possible after the unit finished dead last in points allowed, passing yards allowed, and allowed the sixth-most rushing yards. Still, this kind of challenge needs the kind of mindset Whitt Jr. possesses and the experience he has. Because it's not going to be easy, at all.
It all starts with setting the tone and creating a culture
Quinn and Whitt Jr. were able to do establish a culture in Dallas and it resulted in one of the NFL's most effective defenses over the last three years. It became known as a physical unit that wanted to -and did- take the ball away as much as possible. But, in order to get to that point, there has to be clear directives and expectations set from the beginning.
Whitt Jr. is already setting that tone and he made it very clear what he expects from his players.
"I just told this to our staff [in] our first staff meeting: The way that we live is not for everybody. It is not," said Whitt Jr. "Because we're going to run and put our bodies on people in a violent manner… and so we're going to get that play style right, first…
"… There's only one way to do it [and] that's the way that we want it done. And if that's not the way that you want to live, that's fine – you'll probably be somewhere else but we're going to do it that way. And you just have to go do it."
It doesn't stop there, though. He's not letting his coaches off the hook when it comes to how they approach their jobs, either. At the same time, he knows the standard starts with him.
"They're going to see the same person every day," said Whitt Jr. "You can't pick and choose when you want to demand or get things from guys. Every time I walk into that building, they're gonna see the same thing. They're gonna get the same that effort. As coaches, you know, when you start to lose, sometimes, coaches start to stay later. My thought process is because -I've been on 20 wins in a row and I've lost six in a row- I go home the same time, because I'm giving you everything I have. Everything I have every time.
"So when coaches started to stay later, after we've lost two or three games – you were cheating us. Because if you thought that was gonna give us a better chance of winning, you would have done it before we lost. I'm going to give everything I have to those guys every time they see me."
Whitt Jr. wants communication and collaboration, which is key to thriving in the NFL
"We were very strategical from where we brought these coaches from, because we're going to build the Commander defense, it's not going to be exactly what we did in Dallas," said Whitt Jr. "And if you think it is… you're going to be mistaken.
"We're going to build this thing. We have the structure that we want, but we're going to take the ideas from all the coaches that we have on the defensive staff, we're going to do it just like we did in Dallas, we listened to every coach on the staff in Dallas, and we built it together…
"…This is a collaborative deal. This is not about me. This is not about the staff. This is about us as a unit."
The potential trickle-down effect from a collaborative effort could be huge. Not only does it give coaches and players the confidence to speak up and discuss new ideas or give thoughts on how to fix/improve things, it simply allows a more free-flowing environment, yet also structured. That in itself is conducive to development, which in turn, should lead to winning.
But make no mistake – Whitt Jr. isn't going to lower his standards, by any means. It may be a free-flowing, collaborative environment – but he wants positive results and that's the expectation.
"I always talk about coaching the creative learner, and if a guy struggles to learn at times, that's our job to make sure that we teach them in many different facets, so that guy can get it," said Whitt Jr. "All right, that's our job. That's why they pay us what they pay us. They don't pay us all this money just to go in there and put it up on the board and if certain guys can't get it – no, it's your job to make sure they can get it. And if a coach sits there and says [a player] can't learn – he probably can't coach. Okay, so we'll get these guys to understand what we want them to do and do it in a very good manner."
It's almost impossible to come away unimpressed after Whitt Jr.'s first presser. The guy has a passion and excitement for the game and he said all the right things. He has a clear vision of what he wants to do and he has been around long enough to where he knows how to get there.
There are also the facts he has the ultimate support system in Quinn and Washington has a ton of draft capital and cap space to help improve the defense in 2024.
Only time will tell how Whitt Jr. works out as DC, but a betting man would certainly take the prop for success, right now.
