Commanders are hiring the son of a franchise legend

The Washington Commanders are going with a bit of a deep cut as they look ahead to the 2026 season.

Washington is hiring DJ Williams as their new quarterbacks coach, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Wednesday. Williams was formerly the QBs coach for the Atlanta Falcons, and is also notably the son of legendary Washington quarterback Doug Williams.

Doug Williams, now 70 years old, was an icon of the franchise and led the team to victory during Super Bowl XXII in the 1987 season as the Super Bowl MVP. These days, Doug serves as a senior advisor for the Commanders after first returning to their franchise as an executive in 2014.

As for DJ, not to be confused with former Denver Broncos linebacker DJ Williams, he also played as a quarterback at Grambling State from 2011-14. DJ then went into coaching at the NFL level, serving as an offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints from 2019-23 before joining the Falcons as their assistant QBs coach in 2024 and then as their primary QBs coach in 2025.

With the Commanders, DJ will be tasked with overseeing the continued development of Washington star QB Jayden Daniels. The 25-year-old Daniels was a Pro Bowler as a rookie and also led the Commanders to a surprise NFC title game berth. But he took a big step back in his sophomore year, in large part due to some frustrating injuries.

Daniels was said to be unhappy with Washington’s recent decision to part ways with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. The Commanders have since hired David Blough to serve as their new OC, and now they are adding another former quarterback in DJ Williams to help out as well.