Feb. 16, 2026, 5:33 a.m. ET

It seems impossible that one year after going 12-5 and reaching the NFC Championship Game that Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn could be on the hot seat. But that’s life in the NFL these days. It’s a “what have you done for me lately” league.

How did Quinn respond after going 5-12 in his second season? He overhauled his coaching staff. He moved on from successful offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury in a surprising move. It was more about philosophical differences than performance. It was performance that led Quinn to move on from his friend, defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. Quinn also fired offensive line coach Bobby Johnson. Even team legend Ryan Kerrigan will not return in 2025.

No one forced Quinn to make these moves. He felt they were necessary. He wasn’t going to stand pat after such a terrible season. He deserves credit for that. He also deserves credit for promoting assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough to replace Kingsbury. Blough has only two years of coaching experience, but Quinn has felt strongly about Blough’s potential since he arrived in Washington in 2024. He’s not the only one.

Defensively, he hired another first-time coordinator, Daronte Jones. Jones has drawn rave reviews around the league and was in line to replace Brian Flores as Minnesota’s defensive coordinator had he left. Still, Quinn, a defensive head coach, is completely handing the reins over to a first-time coordinator and he’s allowing him to implement his own scheme.

Quinn knows this had better work. He believes it will, or he wouldn’t have made the decisions.

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So, it’s no surprise that Quinn made the top 10 of Fox Sports’ hot seat rankings for 2026. Ralph Vacchiano had Quinn at No. 8.

It feels unfair to put him on this list, given the sheer volume of injuries that ruined the Commanders‘ 2025 season — especially the one to quarterback Jayden Daniels. Quinn, after all, is still the coach who led Washington to the NFC Championship Game in his first year with the club (2024). But he also just purged his staff, including offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who is widely credited for Daniels having perhaps the greatest season for a rookie quarterback ever. 

How Daniels responds to a new OC will be crucial to Quinn’s future. Also important: how the Commanders fix a defense that has been terrible during his two-year tenure.

Quinn wasn’t the only NFC East coach on the list. Dallas head coach Brian Schottenheimer was No. 10, while Philadelphia’s Nick Sirianni was No. 2. No surprise on that one.

Regardless of how much Washington’s front office and players love Quinn, he needs to win in 2026. Another 5-12 season, or anything similar, will likely mean big changes for the Commanders. Quinn knows this all too well. For Washington to improve, it needs better players, especially on defense. The offense should be fine with the returns of Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin. However, the defense needs to be overhauled.

General manager Adam Peters needs a big offseason, too.