Hogs Haven
A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders
DURING HIS WEEKLY session with reporters on Jan. 2, Kingsbury was asked if he was ready to field all the head coaching questions that were bound to come his way. Kingsbury, who was seated in a chair against the wall, smiled as he started to stand.
“It would take a lot to leave this kid,” he said.
That “kid,” of course, is Daniels.
“He’s meant a lot, obviously, for my development and my growth from the day I stepped foot here to this point now,” Daniels said of Kingsbury. “Just to be able to see and get to learn the type of person Kliff is on and off the field, it’s only helped our relationship grow.”
Kingsbury turned down all coaching interview requests during the Commanders’ playoff run, which ended Sunday. On Tuesday, a team source confirmed to ESPN that he had elected to stay with the Commanders for another year. With Daniels’ emergence in Year 1, Kingsbury said it will take more than a big offer to make Kingsbury leave Washington.
“I didn’t get into this to be a head coach again,” Kingsbury told ESPN last month. “It’s not about money. It never has been about money. So, that won’t move me at all. It’s just I want to do the best job we can here for those guys and then kind of go from there.”
Quinn was recently in Kingsbury’s shoes, serving as defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys the previous three years, after Atlanta had fired him. He said Kingsbury has earned the right to be choosy.
“Nothing can replace the joy that you have of where you’re at,” Quinn said.
“Jayden is an incredible player, and he’s absolute a blast to coach [with] his confidence, humility, playmaking ability. This train ain’t slowing down. If you feel like you have to force it, then you’re probably not making the right choice.”
Regardless of what happens next, the path Kingsbury has traveled over the past two years has helped reshape his future.
“That’s why he’s in such a good place,” Klint Kingsbury said. “He’s figured out why he does it and what’s important.”
Washington holds the 29th overall pick for the third time in franchise history and the first since 1962. At that point in the NFL’s history, the No. 29 overall pick came in the third round. The team selected Penn State linebacker Bob Mitinger with that pick, although he ended up playing in the AFL with the San Diego Chargers, who drafted him in the fifth round of their league’s draft.
Washington currently has seven picks in this year’s draft:
