Washington Commanders: Coordinator hires not as similar as some thing
Feb. 14, 2026, 4:03 a.m. ET
Yes, both David Blough and Daronte Jones are first-time NFL coordinators.
However, may that be where the comparisons stop and the contrasts begin? Although both are at the Washington Commanders‘ Ashburn facilities as first-time NFL coordinators, these two men are not synonymous, and their career paths are not similar.
David Blough is 30 years old, while Daronte Jones is 47. If you are at least 47, how much more about life and a career do you know now than you did when you were 30? How much more about marriage, parenting, and your health?Blough was born in Texas and played his high school ball also in Carrollton, TX, before playing Big Ten football as a quarterback at Purdue. Blough developed well and was a third-team Big Ten QB his final season at Purdue. He was undrafted in the class of 2019. Jones was born in Capitol Heights, MD, and played at Bishop McNamara (Forestville, MD). He went to Temple, returning to the area to play at Morgan State. He was an undrafted cornerback in the 2001 class.Blough made it to the NFL, signed by the Browns and Vikings, not appearing in any games. But he did then make it onto regular season rosters of the Lions and Cardinals and did appear in NFL regular season games for both. Jones last played in college and immediately went into coaching the next football season.Blough upon concluding his NFL playing career has coached for two seasons. Both were with the Commanders as the assistant quarterbacks coach. Being named offensive coordinator for the Commanders is his second NFL job in coaching and comes as he enters his third season of coaching.Jones, on the other hand, coached two seasons in high school football. He got his coaching start as a graduate assistant at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne, and later coached five seasons at Division II Bowie State. There was a season in the Canadian Football League (Montreal Alouettes). There were also coaching jobs at five other Division I programs: Nicholls State, UCLA, Hawaii, Wisconsin, and LSU. There have been four previous NFL stops, coaching for the Dolphins, Bengals, Vikings and the Vikings a second time after the season with LSU.Jones now after coaching every season since 2001 has landed his first NFL job as a coordinator with the Commanders, entering his 26th season of coaching football. Blough has coached two seasons and this will be his third season both in the NFL and with the Commanders. Jones comes to an entirely new situation, while Blough has been working with and under Dan Quinn and quarterback Jayden Daniels the past two seasons.Blough and HC Dan Quinn have both stated there will be much continuity with Blough and the offensive personnel from the last two seasons Thus far we have been told the difference will have the quarterback taking many more snaps from under center. Jones on the other hand is bringing in his own defensive scheme. Quinn has even expressed Jones has the freedom to run his own defense as he sees best.
Thus, in closing, don’t we need to be careful to not become too simplistic in equating Jones and Blough because this is the first time they are coordinators in the NFL? If they both bring improvement to their side of the ball next season, who is going to care about their resumes?
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