The Commanders are parting ways with some of their incumbent defensive coaching staff.
Assistant linebackers coach/pass rush specialist Ryan Kerrigan, assistant defensive line coach Sharrif Floyd, and player development coach Pete Ohnegian will all be leaving the team, per KRPC2’s Aaron Wilson. The moves were expected regardless of who the team selected as their DC, according to ESPN’s John Keim.
Kerrigan, 37, is the highest-profile departure. He spent 10 of his 11 NFL seasons in Washington, earned four Pro Bowls, and finished his career as the franchise leader in tackles for loss (116) and forced fumbles (26). Kerrigan also ranks second in team history with 95.5 sacks. After retiring in 2021, he returned to Washington as an assistant defensive line coach. He spent two years in that role before the arrival of Dan Quinn in 2024, who moved Kerrigan to the position he just vacated. The Commanders’ pass rush was middling in his first year in the role, but regressed this past season.
Floyd, 34, is also a former player. He was a Vikings defensive tackle from 2013 to 2017 and started a coaching career shortly after. He started at the high school level and served as an undergraduate assistant at Florida before joining the Cowboys as an assistant defensive line/defensive quality control coach in 2023. He then followed Quinn to Washington, where the Commanders have struggled against the run in back-to-back years.
Ohnegian was another assistant on Quinn’s staff in Dallas, though he only worked for the Cowboys in 2023. Like Floyd, he followed Quinn to Washington in 2024 and moved into a player development role.
Didn’t know Kerrigan and Floyd got into coaching. They can probably get work in college, may have been too much of a leap into pros.
Perhaps they weren’t fits for Quinn’s defense. Perhaps they weren’t fits for the players, or for the now exited coordinator. Or maybe they weren’t as good as we would have expected.
In any of those cases, I agree with you. Kerrigan has one of those borderline HoF type resumes, and Floyd had a solid career. Hopefully they catch on somewhere where they can have success or develop their talents as coaches. College could be a lower profile place to do that-and have success.
Pretty hard to be a great defensive line coach when you are given JAGs at all the spots (after trading away the real edge rush talent). Short end of the stick for Ryan Kerrigan again.
I thought he did well with who he had available.
I mean, that’s fair. Like I said, it could be the players who were a bad fit, or Quinn’s scheme, or Woods’ scheme. It’s hard to believe that Kerrigan and Floyd are bad at what they do. Possible? Sure, but hard to believe.