The Washington Commanders are hiring Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones as their new defensive coordinator, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday evening.
Washington moved on from defensive coordinator Joe Whitt and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury earlier this offseason, with head coach Dan Quinn promoting assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough to OC and now plucking Jones, 47, from Minnesota.
Whitt Jr. ceded his play-calling duties to Quinn following 10 games in the 2025 season, a dismal 5-12 campaign that fell far short of following up from a 2024 NFC Championship Game run.
Prior to the 2024 season, Quinn brought in Whitt. A veteran-laden defense was roughly middle of the road, ranking 13th in yards allowed and 18th in points as a Jayden Daniels-led offense led the way to the Commanders making their NFC title game run.
The wheels fell off in Washington in just about every conceivable way in 2025, though, and the defense was dead last in yards allowed, 27th in points given up.
Now, Jones will be tasked with righting the defensive ship, though it will remain to be seen if Quinn maintains play-calling duties.
Jones had previous stints with the Miami Dolphins (2016-2017), the Cincinnati Bengals (2018-19) and then began his time with the Vikings in 2020. In 2021, Jones was LSU's defensive coordinator before returning to Minnesota for the past three years under defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
As Quinn and the Commanders look to rebound from a disastrous 2025 and get back to their 2024 form, Washington has its new coordinators -- both of them first-time NFL coordinators -- in place.
