Former Commanders coach lands on his feet in AFC by reuniting with a familiar face, and it’s not who you think
Commanders’ former defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. lands with Mike McCarthy and the Steelers as the assistant head coach.
The Washington Commanders were one of the first teams to make a drastic change to their coaching staff when the season ended, including moving on from both coordinators.
Dominoes around the league continued to fall, and teams made bold moves and swapped coaches from other teams. The Pittsburgh Steelers were one of the teams to go through a shocking change after head coach Mike Tomlin stepped down, and they hired Mike McCarthy as the new leader.
McCarthy started to fill out his staff with many familiar faces from his past, including the Commanders’ former defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.
Joe Whitt Jr. lands in Pittsburgh as Assistant HC and Secondary coach
Head coach Dan Quinn brought Whitt Jr. over with him from the Dallas Cowboys when he was hired as the Commanders’ new head coach two offseasons ago, and it was an experiment that failed. The Commanders’ defense struggled over the last two seasons, but took a major step back in 2025, and something needed to change.
Quinn finally had to let his right-hand man go after the season, and now he’s with another former coach in Pittsburgh as the assistant head coach and secondary coach under McCarthy.
Whitt Jr. was with McCarthy in Green Bay from 2008 to 2018, and now they’re back together trying to recover their coaching careers. The Steelers’ defense underperformed many times last season, though they have a ton of talent on the roster. The Commanders did lack talent, so this will be a true test to see if it was a coaching problem by Whitt Jr, or a roster issue in Washington.
The Commanders’ defense couldn’t have been any worse
The defense somehow took a step back in 2025 and had the fifth-worst passing defense in the NFL, and allowed the sixth-most points on the season with 451. Whitt Jr. was also supposed to specialize in turnovers, yet the Commanders had the second-fewest in the league with just 10 total takeaways on the season.
Maybe it’ll be a different story in Pittsburgh, and he can find success again, but this feels like just another loyalty hire for McCarthy and Whitt Jr. One former coordinator found a new home, though, as Kliff Kingsbury continues to strike out on opportunities. Meanwhile, the Commanders are hoping Daronte Jones is the answer to solve their own defensive struggles.
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