Sometimes in life, you think you really understand what happened. But then you learn a few more pieces of the puzzle, and suddenly you realize you had it all wrong.
That was the case with the recent announcement that Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt was moving down to the sidelines during games.
The Commanders’ defense has been struggling severely, leaving receivers wide open time and time again. With their fourth consecutive loss on Sunday against Seattle, the defense surrendered four touchdowns in the Seahawks’ first four possessions. It seemed obvious that head coach Dan Quinn had seen enough and confronted Whitt, demanding a significant change. After all, the defense’s recent performance had been completely unacceptable, and Whitt’s current approach appeared mostly ineffective.
Surely, Quinn told Whitt he wanted him down on the sideline starting this week against Detroit. Surely, Quinn emphasized the need for Whitt to be more involved with his defensive personnel on the field when the offense had possession of the ball.
But no— I had it wrong. All wrong.
During his Thursday press conference, Whitt surprised everyone by revealing that it was actually him who went to Quinn to ask if he could move down to the sideline on game days.
Whitt explained that he preferred being up in the press box because it gave him a better view of the entire defense and the offensive personnel changes. However, he added, “A couple of guys have been asking for me to come down as well. And so, I think it’s time for that to happen.”
“We gotta do whatever we have to do to get a win,” Whitt continued. “The play has not been, especially this last week, to the standard at all. And like I said, that starts with me. I gotta do a better job getting the coaches to get the players to understand how we’re going to do it.”
Wow. This was not the narrative I “knew” at all.
This change was not initiated by Dan Quinn. It was not a decision imposed because terrible situations demanded a shakeup. Nor was it a mandate from the head coach about altering Whitt’s method on game days.
Instead, it was Whitt’s own idea—a proactive step from the defensive coordinator himself.
Now, with this new development, I’m not quite sure what to make of it either. But this much is clear: sometimes, what we think we understand is far from the entire story.
https://commanderswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/commanders/2025/11/07/washington-commanders-joe-whitt-surprising-admission/87136696007/