With a month remaining until the opening of Washington Capitals training camp, head coach Spencer Carbery was out in Ashburn, Virginia, taking in another sport. Carbery stopped by OrthoVirginia Training Center at Commanders Park to take in a Washington Commanders practice before the team’s final preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday.
Carbery, just as he did last summer, chatted with members of the Commanders’ front office and coaching staff as he took in the practice. After hosting the Ravens at Northwest Stadium, the Commanders will have another two weeks before they open their regular season schedule at home against the New York Giants on September 7.
Despite growing up in British Columbia and playing professional hockey, Carbery is a huge football fan, specifically being a diehard supporter of the San Francisco 49ers. The reigning NHL Coach of the Year was drawn to the team after watching the Hall of Fame connection between 49ers quarterback Joe Montana and wide receiver Jerry Rice during the late 80s and early 90s.
Carbery has previously said that he draws inspiration from NFL coaches and how they create advantages for their teams.
“I follow it closely and am fascinated with the inner workings of how they operate,” Carbery told the Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson last year. “Their day-to-day, their meetings, their training camps, their preparation each week. I’ve been watching – Mike McDaniel (Miami Dolphins head coach) is a disciple of Kyle Shanahan (49ers head coach) and worked in San Fran, and they’ve been on ‘Hard Knocks.’ I’m almost caught up with that. I love watching that stuff.”
The many notable names that Carbery chatted with on Wednesday included Commanders general manager Adam Peters, head coach Dan Quinn, assistant GM Lance Newmark, Super Bowl XXII champion Doug Williams, and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. Quinn was one of many area coaches to congratulate Carbery on his Jack Adams Award win.
The Commanders are looking to build upon a 12-5 finish in Quinn’s first season at the helm of the team last year. The team ultimately advanced to the NFC Championship for the first time since 1991, falling 55-23 to the eventual Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles.