Three coaches from different corners of the country joined the Washington Commanders' staff for training camp as part of the 2025 Bill Walsh Fellowship. Coaches Eboni Chambers, Kyle Chung and Greg Townsend Jr. stood out among an incredibly strong pool of applicants and have attacked the opportunity to do "hard s**t with good people" for a few critical weeks in Ashburn, Virginia. Making sure that the fellows get the most out of this time is a priority for every member of Washington's coaching staff.
"This program, supported by the league, is so important for the development of coaches and it creates a pipeline for us," said head coach Dan Quinn. "The fellows mean a lot to our team, and we value seeing them develop and teach alongside our coaches and players. We have 9 outstanding current coaches who have been a part of the Bill Walsh Fellowship program. We believe in it and know it works."
Finding their way onto the field
Others saw embers of a future coach in Chambers long before she identified the potential in herself. As a teenager, she didn't embrace compliments about a budding coach prowess.
"Back when I played basketball in high school, my coaches always referred to me as an extra coach on the floor, and as a player, I hated it," Chambers said. "As I've gotten older and matriculated in my career, teaching and inspiring and mentoring has been like the anchor in who I am."
That piece of who she was would come together with a love of football discovered after college. Nudges from a persistent friend eventually led Chambers to check out the San Diego Rebellion of the Women's National Football Conference, where she would play for over a decade. Staying connected to football was a must for her as her playing career came to a close, and coaching was a natural fit.
"I love being in the environment. I mean, football is just a magnetic sport," she said.
A career as a football coach was always on the table for Chung. After eight seasons in the NFL, his dad, Eugene, became a coach in the league. Seeing it was only one part of being it though for the younger Chung.
"What made me stick to it was the impact that you can have on people which is pretty special. Being able to help kids dreams come true, and at this level helping people exceed their dreams is an opportunity that people don't get all the time," Chung said.
As for Townsend, coaching snuck up on him in a sense. After a knee injury forced him to retire, he was laser focused on rehab at Mamba Sports Academy in Los Angeles. It was here he got word that local high school Oaks Christian was looking for a football coach. Townsend and his dad, two-time All-Pro Greg Townsend Sr., ended up tag-teaming the job. What was next for Townsend Jr. was revealed on that high school football turf.
"You get that football camaraderie again. You get that locker room feeling again, being a part of the team that you are missing…that was cool," Townsend said. "And then once you see the kids go to college and start to achieve their dreams, that's when you're like, 'This is my purpose. This is why I'm here.'"
Their approach to coaching
Through her time as an offensive line coach at the high school and junior college level, Chambers has gained some important insights that have informed how she looks at her work.
"Coaching offensive line, I've learned a lot about the confidence people don't have in themselves, and so I love pumping people up," she said. "I love showing them who they are, putting a mirror to their great qualities … We are all so different and unique, and it's best for us to lean into that."
It's a reality Chambers knows applies to herself just as much as it does to her players. Though there might be people who "put their eyebrow up" to a woman being a men's football coach she admits, Chambers believes how she carries herself and believes in herself can influence that perspective.
"When I walk into this space, in my own head, I'm just like, 'I'm a football coach,' or when I was a player at the time, 'I'm a player.' I'm not putting 'woman' right before it, so I embody that mentality," she said.
At Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College, Chambers wears many hats and relishes the opportunity to tell her players like it is, both as it relates to football and life.
"I'm very real and direct, just in general," she said. "So, who I am outside of coaching is who I am while coaching. I love to just give my guys real life advice, not necessarily football. We're not just building the football, we're building young men and potentially young women within life."
Chung, who is half Korean, also has experience navigating the feeling of being the only one like him in locker rooms and meeting rooms. In fact, the Curry College offensive line coach and run game coordinator feels he's had to confront that fact more now than he did when he was player.
"Ever since I've been in coaching, it's become more in the forefront of my mind," Chung said. "Going to the coaching convention in the offseason and talking to other Korean or Asian people there, and you realize it's a small group. And then me with my playing career, my dad with his playing career and coaching career, it's pretty cool being like a beacon of hope for those guys and showing that we can be in this profession and excel in it as well."
From starting off his coaching career at Virginia Tech to coaching at Florida's IMG Academy to now being at the DIII level, Chung has gained new understandings of what different environments require. He has a way of knowing how to "keep it laid back" so guys aren't tense while recognizing the moments when it's time to be serious.
"The guys know that; they respect it," he said. "I demand a lot of them. I want them to execute at the highest level, of course, on the field but also off the field."
On the other side of the ball, Townsend develops defensive schemes and prepares players at Oaks Christian to compete at the next level. Having to "make sure you get everyone involved and make sure they still feel like they're important" can be a challenge but is one he enjoys. Some in his unit will earn D1 scholarships, others may never play another snap after high school. No matter what though, Townsend aims to the game high energy and fun.
"One of my mottos is 'party in the backfield,'" he said. "All you guys beat each other to the quarterback, and then celebrate it when you get there, celebrate your brother making a sack, celebrate your brother making a TFL and just having a good time."
Fellowship takeaways to elevate their game
Chambers has gone through two other Bill Walsh Fellowships before, but this one has provided different kinds of teaching moments.
"I feel like in the other environments I had, I was observing," she said. "Everybody was nice and helpful, but I didn't necessarily get put in a position where I had to utilize all these skills at once and be really hands on."
She's enjoyed learning coaching technologies like DV Sports and found "aha" moments with the kind of language coaches here use to teach. The Commanders and specifically offensive line coach Bobby Johnson have sought to be really deliberate with Chambers' fellowship experience.
"OG [Johnson] was like, 'I don't want this experience to go by and you not get what you need,'" Chambers said. "And so even in my interview, I identified a couple of things. And so, they've been really intentional, giving me that exposure."
Chung has also appreciated the time the coaches have taken with him.
"I'll sit in OG's meetings late at night just kind of going over the film with him, Shane [offensive quality control coach Shane Toub] and Stape [assistant offensive line coach Darnell Stapleton]. Just kind of hearing them talk and create solutions to problems that arise through our walkthroughs practice has been awesome," he said.
Additionally, he's loved learning about a part of the game that's long been cloaked in some mystery.
"The pass game has been almost foreign to me just because of the O-Line focus, so diving into that, understanding it, what this offense is doing and how I can relate it back to what our offense does, there's similarities there that I can bring back," Chung said.
Townsend can rattle off plenty that he's excited to take back from the last couple weeks, from different leadership styles to drill ideas to understanding schemes and leverage points better. Overall, he's appreciated the sense of family that is apparent at the Commanders.
"This program is awesome. It's great," Townsend said. "I don't know how it is everywhere else, but here, they've made me feel such like a part of the team. I just am so grateful for it."
Following the New England preseason game, the coaches returned to their respective schools. Wherever their paths may lead, the Bill Walsh Fellowship will be a part of the journey, enriching and lifting others that shift the sport in perhaps subtle but positive ways.
"People like Callie Brownson, Jennifer King, people who I know personally like Angela Baker have helped me…now me, I'm a resource to people who want to coach high school or coach youth," Chambers said. "I love being able to get into the positions because it just opens up the door for so many more.
