David Blough hires former teammate for his first staff and continues new trend for Commanders’ offense
David Blough hires former teammate Danny Etling as the new assistant QB coach for the Commanders, as another young coach on staff.
The Washington Commanders’ offseason has been filled with many changes that were needed after a 5-12 season, and they’re just getting started.
Head coach Dan Quinn parted ways with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, and they quickly promoted David Blough to become the new guy. The move comes with high-risk, high-reward stakes and a lot of questions as Blough is running an offense for the first time.
A key part of his success will be surrounding him with a supporting staff, and he just hired a former teammate to take over one of his previous positions for the Commanders.
David Blough hires former teammate Danny Etling as assistant QB coach
Blough has never called plays before or run his own offense, and being able to rely on other coaches will be important for the offense’s success. The Commanders have already hired D.J. Williams as the QB coach, and now Blough is hiring his former Purdue teammate, Danny Etling, as the assistant QB coach.
This is a position that Blough is very familiar with, as it was his first coaching job in the NFL and with the Commanders. Blough was then promoted to QB coach once Tavita Pritchard took the head coaching job at Stanford, so Blough knows what to expect and how they can help him out. Blough played with Eling at Purdue back in 2014, before Etling transferred to LSU. This hire continues a risky, yet necessary, new trend for the Commanders’ coaching staff that could backfire or yield a major payoff.
Danny Etling gets first coaching job on a young offensive staff
Etling has plenty of quarterback experience as an eight-year pro on multiple NFL teams and even in the UFL, and learned from Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady along the way. He’s never coached before, however. He’s joining a first-time offensive coordinator and a young QB coach in Williams to continue the trend of getting much younger on staff. There may be some bumps in the road to start, but don’t be surprised if Blough and his new staff have already started working on the offense, including quarterback Jayden Daniels in the mix.
Next season feels like forever away, but it is a short amount of time for Blough and his staff to get the new offense integrated and iron out any wrinkles along the way. 2026 is set to be a make-or-break season for Quinn and the Commanders’ future, and all eyes are on the offense while they still search for a defensive coordinator.
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