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Rob Rogers

Commanders Move Doug Williams Back To Personnel Role, Part Ways With Eugene Shen

June 25th, 2024 at 3:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

Best known for his late-1980s run as Washington’s starting quarterback, Doug Williams remains with the organization. Though, the former Super Bowl XXII MVP’s role has changed a few times in recent years. Another adjustment will take place moving forward.

Moved out of the personnel picture early in Ron Rivera‘s tenure with the franchise, Williams is now back in the front office mix. The Commanders announced Tuesday the veteran exec will work as a senior advisor to GM Adam Peters. This will not be a foreign role for Williams, who was receiving Fritz Pollard Alliance recommendations for GM gigs in the late 2010s.

The first Black quarterback to start a Super Bowl — a Washington romp over Denver that ended with the QB throwing four touchdown passes — Williams previously worked as Washington’s senior VP of player personnel during a three-year stretch from 2017-19. Days into his tenure atop the club’s personnel hierarchy, Rivera shifted Williams to the title of senior VP of player development. The Bruce Allen-era staple, despite multiple GM changes since the team president’s exit, remains and will join Rivera-era hires Martin Mayhew and Marty Hurney as Peters lieutenants moving forward.

The Commanders also hired Texans director of player development Dylan Thompson, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. Thompson, a former Lions character coach who spent three-plus years with Nick Caserio in Houston, to work as their senior director of team support and advancement. A former 49ers UDFA quarterback, Thompson did not overlap with Peters in San Francisco. But he will be part of the new Washington GM’s staff.

Washington is also moving on from senior VP of football strategy Eugene Shen, ESPN.com’s Seth Walder and John Keim report. Shen’s tenure lasted less than eight months, with Josh Harris having hired him in November. Coming to Washington after stints in Jacksonville, Baltimore and Miami, Shen was in place to provide more of an assessment rather than serve in a long-term capacity, per NBC Sports Bay Area’s JP Finlay.

Hurney remains in place after following Rivera to Washington, and fellow Rivera hire Rob Rogers will as well. Reported to be staying on at least through the draft, the ex-Panthers exec — hired in 2020 — is still with the club as VP of football administration. Carrying extensive negotiating experience, Rogers held this title for 11 years with the Panthers as well.

Additionally, the Commanders hired Doug Drewry as their manager of football research and development. Connor Nickel and Travis Ho are coming aboard as coaching analysts, while Matt Peterson is on the staff roster as the team’s football operations coordinator. Cyrus Daniels is in place as a football ops assistant. Dustin Regan is also now with the team as a college scout, being among the new scouting hires the now-Peters-led team has made this offseason. Charles Brensinger, Alberto de la Guardia, Mitch Sterner and Miles Turner are now scouting assistants with the NFC East team.

Commanders Updates: Tapp, Lynn, Toub

February 14th, 2024 at 9:59pm CST by Ely Allen

The Commanders‘ new coaching staff under head coach Dan Quinn is starting to take shape as he and his coordinators continue to hire new assistant coaches. The most recent of which sees yet another former 49ers staffer in assistant defensive line coach Darryl Tapp find his way to the nation’s capital to serve as Quinn’s new defensive line coach, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Following a long playing career that saw him travel the NFC in places like Seattle, Philadelphia, Washington, Detroit, New Orleans, and Tampa Bay, Tapp went straight into coaching, taking a defensive quality control coaching job at Central Michigan. He followed that up with two more year-long stints as a special teams quality control coach at Vanderbilt and a co-defensive line coach at Virginia Tech.

Tapp got his first NFL coaching opportunity when offered his current position of assistant defensive line coach in San Francisco. He’s held the position for the past three years, helping Kris Kocurek coach up some of the best defensive linemen in the game of football. It didn’t take long for Tapp to get his first opportunity to coach the position on his own.

Washington traded away two of their better defensive linemen this past season in Chase Young and Montez Sweat, but the team still has some extremely talented pieces in Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen. Tapp got to work a bit with Young after the former second-overall pick was traded, so he may have a bit of insight on how to connect with the Commanders defensive line.

Here are a few other staff updates coming out of Washington:

  • Speaking of former 49ers staffers, we already saw today that Washington has hired San Francisco’s assistant head coach and running backs coach Anthony Lynn to their new run-game coordinator position. Well, according to Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post, Lynn’s title will also include running backs coach. Lynn leaves Christian McCaffrey in California and will now coach a group that includes Brian Robinson, Chris Rodriguez, and Derrick Gore. Veteran back Antonio Gibson is currently bound for free agency.
  • Finally, on the coaching staff, Jhabvala also reports that offensive quality control coach Shane Toub will remain on staff for the Commanders. Toub just finished his first year on staff in Washington but has four prior years of experience on the Bears’ coaching staff. He will continue to work in Washington, now under new offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.
  • Outside of the coaching staff, Jhabvala also informs that, in the front office, senior vice president of football administration Rob Rogers is set to remain in place “at least through the draft.” It’s unclear if the team has plans to switch things up in the front office after this April, but for now, Rogers’ job is safe.

Redskins Rearrange Front Office

January 9th, 2020 at 4:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

Ron Rivera continues to make changes in Washington. In addition to the Redskins parting ways with football operations vice president Eric Schaffer, they will reassign another key front office executive.

Previously working as the Redskins’ senior VP of player personnel, Doug Williams will move out of a personnel role but stay with the team. Williams will now work as the Redskins’ senior vice president of player development, reporting to Rivera.

The former Super Bowl MVP played a key role in shaping recent Redskins rosters, doing so under Bruce Allen as the franchise separated from GM Scot McCloughan. But Rivera and a to-be-determined GM (who will likely be hired after the draft) will now be atop the team’s decision-making structure. Former Panthers exec Rob Rogers will be in that picture as well.

Rogers will join the Redskins as their senior VP of football administration. Rogers handled negotiations for the Panthers and managed the cap; he was with the franchise for all 25 years of its existence. Also heading up the Panthers’ analytics department, Rogers marks an interesting addition to the Redskins given his lengthy tenure in Charlotte.

Washington’s plan did not initially include parting ways with Schaffer, whom Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports was being tabbed to remain a key front office presence (Twitter link). However, that was contingent on Rivera being comfortable working with the 17-year Redskins exec. Schaffer will likely be with another team soon.

The Redskins are also promoting Malcolm Blacken to senior director of player development, where he’ll work with Williams, per ESPN.com’s John Keim (on Twitter). Blacken served as the Redskins’ director of player development for six years; Rivera will keep him in a familiar capacity.