Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn looks on during warms up prior to the game against the New York Giants. Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Dan Quinn Officially Moving On From Commanders' Disastrous Season

Originally posted on Washington Commanders on SI
By Jeremy Brener | Last updated Feb 24, 2026 1:00 PM ET

The Washington Commanders had almost everything possible go wrong in the 2025 season.

In order for things to change in 2026, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn and the rest of the team have to put the past in the past.

“Full stop 25, alright. I had to do that first. Enough beating myself up, others in that way. And so, the energy, the swagger that we create, the standards that we want to do. For me, it always starts first with practice and the speed, the effort, the execution of that. The locker room is a strong one, guys supporting one another," Quinn said.

"We kind of spoke on that so much in a tough year. But I think just kind of I want to recapture that energy of that swagger of how we want to play, the style, the attitude of it. And I'm certain we can do that. You've heard me also say building a championship program this season, I'm taking the lessons, I'm moving them forward, but it's also staying there.

"I'm not carrying over the things that sucked and weren't part of how we want to do business. So, there's a lot of energy that's going forward today with the coaches and so as we're moving forward when the players get here, they'll be a part of that too. But yeah I'm ready for that process to be fully underway.”

Commanders Going Back to Drawing Board

Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

The Commanders are looking forward to the idea of a fresh season, and Quinn spoke about how the team is going about it.

“Just kind of completing the first one right now of bringing everybody together their connection of how it's going to go. Merging the vision of what we have to what we also want to add to the roster. And so, Adam and I have obviously lots of discussions about the team and where we're going, but free agency is the first one and so we'll have some meetings coming up shortly," Quinn said.

"The coaches were each assigned some players and areas, they grade them, how would they fit? What would that look like? And so, we do that offensively, defensively before even going to the combine. So, after this part in concert with looking at the personnel, putting the systems together offensively and defensively and then adding those pieces to it from the free agency, both from other clubs and ones from our club, say, okay why back? What would they roll?”

With the Commanders fully evaluating everyone on the roster, they are figuring out what pieces work best and which ones need correcting. With free agency coming up in the next couple of weeks, it will give them an opportunity to get some new blood in the building, which should also help move further from the past season where they finished 5-12.

The hope is that the Commanders will be able to fully move on from the past in hopes of getting a different and better result in 2026.