List of Washington Commanders head coaches

The Washington Commanders are a professional American football franchise based in the Washington metropolitan area. They are members of the East division in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL). The Commanders were founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves, named after the local baseball franchise.[1] The franchise changed its name the following year to the Redskins and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1937.[1] In 2020, the team retired the Redskins name after longstanding controversies surrounding it and briefly played as the Washington Football Team before becoming the Commanders in 2022.[1]

Dan Quinn, Washington's current head coach, was hired in 2024.

There have been 31 head coaches for the franchise, four of which played for the franchise during their career. Joe Gibbs is the only coach to have more than one tenure with the team.[2] Ray Flaherty coached teams that won the 1937 and 1942 NFL Championships, while Joe Gibbs coached teams that won Super Bowl XVII (1982), Super Bowl XXII (1987), and Super Bowl XXVI (1991).[3] Gibbs is the franchise leader in games coached and wins, with Dudley DeGroot leading in winning percentage with .737.[4] Seven are Pro Football Hall of Fame members: Flaherty, Turk Edwards, Curly Lambeau, Otto Graham, Vince Lombardi, George Allen, and Gibbs.[5]

Coaches

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# Number of coaches[a]
GC Games coached
W Wins
L Loses
T Ties
Win % Winning percentage
00 Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach
00 Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player
00* Spent their entire NFL head coaching career with Washington
List of Boston Braves / Boston Redskins / Washington Redskins / Washington Football Team / Washington Commanders head coaches
# Image Name Term Regular season Playoffs Awards Ref.
GC W L T Win% GC W L
1   Lud Wray 1932 10 4 4 2 .500 [6]
2   Lone Star Dietz*[b] 19331934* 24 11 11 2 .500 [7]
3 Eddie Casey* 1935* 11 2 8 1 .200 [8]
4   Ray Flaherty 19361942 78 54 21 3 .720 4 2 2 [9]
5   Dutch Bergman* 1943* 10 6 3 1 .667 2 1 1 [10]
6   Dudley DeGroot*[c] 19441945* 20 14 5 1 .737 1 0 1 [4]
7 Turk Edwards* ‡ 19461948* 35 16 18 1 .471 [11]
8   John Whelchel*[d] 1949* 7 3 3 1 .500 [12]
9 Herman Ball*[e] 19491951* 20 4 16 0 .200 [13]
10   Dick Todd* 1951* 9 5 4 0 .556 [14]
11   Curly Lambeau 19521953 24 10 13 1 .435 [15]
12 Joe Kuharich 19541958 60 26 32 2 .448 Sporting News Coach of the Year (1955)
UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1955)
[16]
[17]
13 Mike Nixon 19591960 24 4 18 2 .182 [18]
14   Bill McPeak* 19611965* 70 21 46 3 .313 [19]
15   Otto Graham* ‡ 19661968* 42 17 22 3 .436 [20]
16   Vince Lombardi[f] 1969 14 7 5 2 .583 [21]
17   Bill Austin 1970 14 6 8 0 .429 [22]
18   George Allen 19711977 98 67 30 1 .691 7 2 5 AP Coach of the Year (1971)
Pro Football Weekly Coach of the Year (1971)
Sporting News Coach of the Year (1971)
UPI NFC Coach of the Year (1971)
[16]
[23]
19   Jack Pardee 19781980 48 24 24 0 .500 AP Coach of the Year (1979)
UPI NFC Coach of the Year (1979)
[24]
20   Joe Gibbs*[g] 19811992* 184 124 60 0 .674 21 16 5 AP Coach of the Year (1982, 1983)
Pro Football Weekly Coach of the Year (1982, 1983)
Sporting News Coach of the Year (1982, 1983, 1991)
UPI NFC Coach of the Year (1982)
[16]
[2]
21 Richie Petitbon* 1993* 16 4 12 0 .250 [25]
22   Norv Turner 19942000 109 49 59 1 .454 2 1 1 [26]
23   Terry Robiskie[h] 2000 3 1 2 0 .333 [27]
24   Marty Schottenheimer 2001 16 8 8 0 .500 [28]
25   Steve Spurrier* 20022003* 32 12 20 0 .375 [29]
  Joe Gibbs*[g] 20042007* 64 30 34 0 .469 3 1 2 [2]
26   Jim Zorn* 20082009* 32 12 20 0 .375 [30]
27   Mike Shanahan 20102013 64 24 40 0 .375 1 0 1 [31]
28   Jay Gruden*[i] 20142019 85 35 49 1 .418 1 0 1 [32]
29   Bill Callahan 2019 11 3 8 0 .273 [33]
30   Ron Rivera 20202023 67 26 40 1 .396 1 0 1 George Halas Award (2022) [34]
31   Dan Quinn 2024–present 8 6 2 0 .750 [35]
# Image Name Term GC W L T Win% GC W L Awards Ref.
Regular season Playoffs

Footnotes

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  1. ^ A running total of the number of coaches of the Redskins. Thus any coach who has two terms as head coach is only counted once.
  2. ^ George Preston Marshall, owner and founder of the franchise, sought to rename the Boston Braves after leaving the stadium they shared with the baseball team of the same name. He chose the name Redskins in honor of Dietz, who was Sioux.
  3. ^ DeGroot was a member of the United States rugby team that won an Olympic gold medal during the 1924 competition in Paris.
  4. ^ Fired after seven games
  5. ^ Fired after three games in the 1951 season.
  6. ^ Lombardi died before the start of the 1970 season.
  7. ^ a b Gibbs full coaching record with the Redskins is 248 regular season games coached with a record of 154–94–0 and a W–L percentage of .621. He is also 17–7 in 24 Playoff games.
  8. ^ Took over for last 3 games of the season.
  9. ^ Fired five games into the 2019 season, with Bill Callahan taking over for the rest of the year.

References

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General
  • "Washington Redskins History". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
  • "Boston Redskins Coaching Records and History". DatabaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
  • "Washington Redskins Coaching Records and History". DatabaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2007. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
  • "Washington Redskins History". JT-SW.com. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
  • "Coaching Roster – Washington Redskins". Hickoksports.com. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ a b c "Washington Commanders Team History". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Joe Gibbs' Coaching Record". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  3. ^ "Washington Redskins Championship History". NFLTeamHistory.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "Dudley DeGroot's Coaching Record". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  5. ^ "Hall of Famers by Franchise". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
  6. ^ "Lud Wray's Coaching Record". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  7. ^ "Lone Star Dietz's Coaching Record". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  8. ^ "Eddie Casey's Coaching Record". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  9. ^ "Ray Flaherty's Coaching Record". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  10. ^ "Dutch Bergman's Coaching Record". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  11. ^ "Turk Edwards' Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  12. ^ "John Whelchel's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  13. ^ "Herman Ball's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  14. ^ "Dick Todd's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  15. ^ "Curly Lambeau's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
  16. ^ a b c "NFL Coach of the Year Award". Hickok Sports. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
  17. ^ "Joe Kuharich's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  18. ^ "Mike Nixon's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
  19. ^ "Bill McPeak's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  20. ^ "Otto Graham's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  21. ^ "Vince Lombardi's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  22. ^ "Bill Austin's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  23. ^ "George Allen's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  24. ^ "Jack Pardee's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  25. ^ "Richie Petitbon's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  26. ^ "Norv Turner's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  27. ^ "Terry Robiskie's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  28. ^ "Marty Schottenheimer's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  29. ^ "Steve Spurrier's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  30. ^ "Jim Zorn's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  31. ^ "Mike Shanahan's Coaching Record". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  32. ^ "Jay Gruden". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  33. ^ "Bill Callahan". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  34. ^ "Ron Rivera Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  35. ^ "Dan Quinn Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 3, 2024.