Dan Quinn
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Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn during an October 5, 2025 game against Los Angeles Chargers.
Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn is already looking ahead to 2026, but 2025 remains on his mind. 5-12 after taking a trip to a conference championship game is not a path that many coaches ever want to face. Yet, with that in mind, 2026 proves to become a pivotal season for both the head coach and the franchise. He sat down with veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson to reflect on the lessons from last year and consider how to apply them going forward.
“Yeah, it’s a great topic, and one that I think you want to take any lesson that you can take from the 2025 season, pull that forward, and leave the rest behind. As you said, like, 2024 was excellent; 2025, like, squarely punched in the mouth.”
After a 27-10 win on October 5, 2025, against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Commanders stood at 3-2. Although the team faced adversity throughout the following weeks, determination remained constant, and each challenge presented valuable learning opportunities. While turnovers became a concern, both offensively and defensively, the team gained clarity on areas for growth.
“And so, I’d say above all of them, there’s, you know, just our ability defensively to create takeaways and the ability to like have great ball security. That turnover margin has to be one of the very best things that we do. And we didn’t do that in 2025.”
The Standard That the Team Failed to Live Up To
In 2024, everything went right for the franchise. From the Hail Mary win to the upset of the Detroit Lions, the Commanders’ strong play and ability to thrive in adverse situations set a high standard. Despite challenges last season, including injuries, most notably to quarterback Jayden Daniels, each obstacle offered a path for improvement and growth.
As Daniels develops and the team focuses on refining accuracy and consistency, there is a shared belief that those experiences will drive success moving forward.
Jayden Daniels and Dan Quinn
GettyCommanders head coach Dan Quinn and starting quarterback Jayden Daniels during a December 7, 2025 game against the Minnesota Vikings.
New Year Brings New Hope
Quinn believes that 2025 will soon be just a memory as the Commanders lay a foundation for bigger things. The addition of multiple free agents directly addresses areas of need and inspires renewed confidence.
With the seventh-overall pick in next month’s draft, the head coach is eager to blend new talent into a team culture already prepared to rediscover its winning ways. Also, the pressure of his and possibly Jayden Daniels’ presumed extension, Washington possesses little margin for error this season.
“And so I think what you’ll see from this team is a resilience, the provided factor, um, the chemistry that comes along with, like, going into those battles. And so that’s the space that I think this team, the guys are getting together in, and that’s what we’ll see, you know, over the offseason into training camp. But that’s what I’m hoping to see, like when those moments of adversity come, that resilience that we demonstrated early on in year one that we didn’t show enough of in year two.”
Dan Quinn
GettyCommanders head coach Dan Quinn looks onto the field during an October 27, 2025.