{"id":709370,"date":"2026-01-27T17:01:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T17:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/709370\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T17:01:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T17:01:34","slug":"washington-commanders-name-local-hbcu-product-dc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/709370\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Commanders name local HBCU product DC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Daronte Jones\u00a0is headed to a major\u00a0NFL\u00a0opportunity,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/commanders-hiring-vikings-db-coach-daronte-jones-as-defensive-coordinator\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> as the Washington Commanders are hiring the former HBCU player and coach. <\/a>The franchise hired the Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach as their new defensive coordinator, according to reports Monday night.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a big swing for a franchise trying to snap back after a 5\u201312 season in 2025 and a defensive collapse that led to staff changes on both sides of the ball. Jones, 47, becomes one of the Washington Commanders first-time coordinators as head coach Dan Quinn reshapes the staff.<\/p>\n<p>HBCU: Morgan State roots, Bowie State impact<\/p>\n<p>For\u00a0HBCU\u00a0football fans,\u00a0Daronte Jones\u2019 rise hits different. He\u2019s a Morgan State alumnus and former player, and his early coaching r\u00e9sum\u00e9 includes a key stop at Bowie State from 2005 to 2009 as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.<\/p>\n<p>That Bowie State chapter mattered. It\u2019s part of the foundation that helped Jones keep climbing\u2014earning trust as a secondary coach, teacher, and organizer across multiple levels of football.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"241\" height=\"326\" data-attachment-id=\"157570\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hbcugameday.com\/2026\/01\/27\/washington-commanders-name-local-hbcu-product-dc\/g_pigvawsaa6cii\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/G_pIGvAWsAA6Cii.jpeg\" data-orig-size=\"241,326\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{\" aperture=\"\" data-image-title=\"G_pIGvAWsAA6Cii\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/G_pIGvAWsAA6Cii.jpeg?w=222\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/G_pIGvAWsAA6Cii.jpeg?w=241\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/G_pIGvAWsAA6Cii.jpeg\" alt=\"G PIGvAWsAA6Cii\" class=\"wp-image-157570\"  \/>Daronte Jones: the path back to the NFL coordinator chair<\/p>\n<p>Jones\u2019\u00a0NFL\u00a0track includes stints with the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals before he joined the Vikings in 2020. He then stepped into the national spotlight as LSU\u2019s defensive coordinator in 2021, before returning to Minnesota and working under Brian Flores.<\/p>\n<p>Now he lands with the Washington Commanders with a clear assignment: bring structure, toughness, and production to a defense that cratered in 2025. If the Washington Commanders rebound,\u00a0Daronte Jones\u00a0won\u2019t just be a new play-caller\u2014he\u2019ll be another proof point that the\u00a0HBCU\u00a0pipeline develops coaches ready for the biggest stage in the\u00a0NFL.<\/p>\n<p>The Washington Commanders have maintained ties to HBCU football for years.<a href=\"https:\/\/hbcugameday.com\/tag\/doug-williams\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> From having Grambling State legend Doug Williams as a member of its front office to providing opportunities for coaches from local HBCUs.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daronte Jones\u00a0is headed to a major\u00a0NFL\u00a0opportunity, as the Washington Commanders are hiring the former HBCU player and coach.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[427,198,7,4146,6,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-709370","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-commanders","9":"tag-featured","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-hbcu-sports","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-washington","14":"tag-washington-commanders","15":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115968140822877378","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}