The Washington Commanders hired David Blough; who else did they interview for their offensive coordinator job?

All told, the Commanders interviewed five coaches who were interested in the job of replacing Kliff Kingsbury. Commanders Wire has already written much about Blough. One thing that jumps out when looking at the list of candidates is that only one of the five has prior NFL play-calling experience. Perhaps that’s a good question for Dan Quinn to be asked at the press conference? Who were the other four interviewed by the Commanders?

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Assistant head coach and passing game coordinator Brian Johnson

Johnson served under Kingsbury in Washington over the past two seasons. He came to the Commanders after an unsuccessful 2023, where he was heavily criticized for the Philadelphia Eagles‘ offensive struggles. Johnson was the offensive coordinator for that Eagles offense. Yes, Johnson was calling the plays in 2023, and yes, Johnson lost his job as the offense struggled. Yet, it was a strange structure as it was Sirianni’s playbook and designs. He was a quarterback at Utah (2004-08), then coached at Utah (2010-13), Mississippi State (2014-16), Houston (2017) and Florida (2018-20). He was an offensive coordinator at Utah, Houston, and Florida. He was the Eagles’ quarterback coach (2021-22) before being promoted to OC for the 2023 season.

Johnson not getting the Commanders job, though he has more coaching experience than Blough, could understandably leave him feeling unfairly passed over, and he may look to land on another staff.

TE coach David Raih

Raih (age 45) was a college quarterback at Iowa (1999-2002) and had just concluded his second season with the Commanders. His title was assistant offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for the Buccaneers in 2023 when Dave Canales called the plays. Raih coached first in college at UCLA (2008-09), Iowa (2010-12) and Texas Tech (2013), before elevating to the NFL for the Packers (2014-18), Cardinals (2019-20), then back to college at Vanderbilt (2021) before going to the Buccaneers. Raigh worked under Kingsbury at both Texas Tech and the Commanders; consequently, we can’t rule out that he may choose to go again with Kingsbury.

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Cowboys TE coach Lunda Wells

Wells is the current Cowboys TE coach (2020-current) and therefore served with Dan Quinn (2021-23). Playing offensive line at Southern University, Wells began coaching at Scotlandville HS (Louisiana, 2006-07). He then coached at LSU (2008-11), NY Giants (2012-19), coaching offensive line and tight ends.

Cardinals WR coach/passing game coordinator Drew Terrell

Terrell was a receiver and punt returner for Stanford (2009-12). He began coaching at Virginia Tech (2014) before going north to Michigan (2015-17). He then moved up to the NFL with the Carolina Panthers (2018-19), following Ron Rivera to Washington for the 2020-2022 seasons as a receivers coach. For the last three seasons (2023-25), he has been the Cardinals’ receivers coach and passing game coordinator.

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This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: 5 coaches interviewed for OC opening