Jason Simmons heads to Pittsburgh and Marcus Dixon joins a rival, forcing Daronte Jones to dig deep for his new defensive staff.

With new coaches often come more new coaches, and even some new players. So, with the Washington Commanders hiring Daronte Jones as their new defensive coordinator, one step in the natural progression is to consider other new coaches, leading to the departure of some familiar faces.

WUSA9 confirmed last week that some of those departing the Commanders’ coaching staff include pass-rush specialist Ryan Kerrigan and assistant defensive line coach Sharrif Floyd. Defensive pass game coordinator Jason Simmons has also left the team and was confirmed early this week by the Pittsburgh Steelers as having been hired to the same position and as their defensive backs coach.

Those moves create at least a couple of open positions, with more potentially opening as Jones continues to make his mark on the defensive coaching staff in Washington.


Cowboys poach top defensive line target

One coach I discussed recently on Locked On Commanders was former Minnesota Vikings defensive line coach Marcus Dixon, if Jones and the team opted to move on from coach Darryl Tapp in addition to Floyd. However, early this week, Dixon signed on to become the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive line coach, according to reporter Todd Archer of ESPN. 

Imarjaye Albury is currently the assistant defensive line coach for the Vikings, and could be an attractive option for Jones to bring over, but if the Commanders can’t add at least another title to his position, any requests to try and do so may be blocked by his current team. With Dixon’s departure, it’s also possible that Albury will be promoted to his vacated defensive line coach position.

With Kerrigan departing the staff, there is a potential opening for Minnesota assistant outside linebackers coach Patrick Hill to join Jones’ staff in Washington as a pass-rush specialist or as an outside linebackers coach, a position currently not filled this season.

Hill was one of the coaches at the Panini Senior Bowl last week, so he would bring some hands-on knowledge of this year’s draft class, as well as his previous experience coaching in the NFL alongside Jones with the Vikings.


SpaceX engineer could fix turnover drought

One potentially outside-the-box candidate I found who could be considered to join Jones with the Comomanders is current Minnesota quality control coach Chenzo Funari, who could be brought over as an assistant position coach, perhaps with the secondary.

Funari is an aeronautical engineer and is credited as the architect of the Vikings’ takeaway circuit, which led their defense to the league lead in interceptions in 2024 and in fumbles in 2025.

We expect the coaching staff to be finalized in the coming days as the Commanders prepare to shift fully into free agency and NFL Draft preparation, so while the departures of some—especially a franchise legend like Kerrigan—are news enough, it is likely more changes are coming with at least a couple new faces joining the staff for 2026.