The Commanders are losing a coach who’s been critical in Jayden Daniels’ development, and they already have a replacement

The Commanders will need to promote a rising assistant coach with Tavita Pritchard leaving.

Josh Taylor — Washington Commanders News Writer
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The Washington Commanders are looking to end their six-game losing streak as they return on Sunday night against the Denver Broncos.

The team has a lot to play for still, even with a 3-8 record, and they need to see what they have on the roster with a lot of changes on the way. The roster isn’t the only thing that will be changing, as the team could face a ton of changes on the coaching staff as well.

The Commanders already need a new defensive coordinator, and possibly a new offensive coordinator if Kliff Kingsbury leaves, but they just lost one of their top coaches before Week 13.

Commanders lose QB coach Tavita Pritchard

The college football season is coming to an end for many teams, and a lot of them are already announcing their new head coaches for next season. One of those teams is Stanford, which announced that it is hiring Commanders QB coach Tavita Pritchard.

Pritchard played quarterback at Stanford behind Andrew Luck, and now Luck is hiring him to be the next head coach for his alma mater. He started his coaching career at Stanford as soon as he finished playing quarterback in 2010 as a grad assistant, and worked his way up the ladder until he was hired to be the Commanders’ QB coach in 2023. The new regime really wanted to keep him when head coach Dan Quinn took over, and he had a lot of success with Jayden Daniels during his rookie season. Both Quinn and Stanford alum tight end Zach Ertz had high praise for the hire at Stanford, and Ertz could follow him there after the season if he retires.

Pritchard has been a hot name for a lot of teams, but being hired as the head coach at Stanford was his dream job, and an opportunity he can’t turn down. Stanford landed a homerun hire for them, and the Commanders lose a coveted assistant coach that they need to replace, and much sooner than you think.

Tavita Prichard will leave early, and the Commanders have a replacement

The one tricky part about the hire is that Stanford’s season ends this weekend, while the Commanders still have six games left to play. Early National Signing Day starts December 3rd for college, so Pritchard will be needed right away to get things going. There’s no way he waits until the Commanders’ season is over to leave, especially at 3-8. Sunday night will be Pritchard’s last game in Washington before he leaves for Stanford. That means the Commanders need to replace him in a few days, and luckily, they have David Blough.

Blough is another former QB, and another name that’s been talked about a lot as a rising assistant in the NFL. He’s just 30 years old, and someone to keep an eye on in the near future who could get offers for better opportunities. Blough will likely be promoted from Assistant QB coach to QB coach now, with Pritchard likely leaving soon. Hopefully, the early promotion is enough to keep him around for a few more years as well.

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