On playing in different offenses and playing quarterback in the NFL help prepare him to be in this spot:
"Sure. I think I've been very fortunate to be around a lot of great coaches, you know, like every step of the way, whether it was high school, whether it was college, whether it was in the NFL. A lot of the men that I've looked up to in my life have been fantastic coaches, whether it's a teacher, whether it's a connector, whether it's a developer. And so, you know, once I got to the NFL level as a player, you know, that flame was kind of lit for me that I wanted to be the guy, you know, as close as you can to calling a play in the huddle. You know, getting to call the plays into the quarterback is the next closest thing as one of the play callers. So I've always had aspirations for this and really excited to get it going."
On if play calling was something that was always important to him:
"That's a great question. I've just seen the difference it can make, you know, I've seen the difference at different stops in my career of getting to see different styles, different play callers, different innovators and it's really important. You know, when you're creating a game plan, when you're developing players, putting them in the best position to succeed that you know, how important the play calling role is. So kinda like I mentioned, for John [Keim], like it's as close as you can get to calling the play in the huddle and actually being the guy receiving the snap and now developing that and helping get our group to the best collective outcome is what really excites me."
On why he thinks it is important to have QB Jayden Daniels under center more next year:
"Yeah, I think, you know, it opens up some different schemes in the run game, some things that I believe in. It opens up different play actions and keepers and getting him on the perimeter in different ways. You know, I think there's a level of communication that happens under center. I think there's just, there's different ways to go about things, and it's something that I'm convicted about that with his skillset, his fundamentals, the things that we absolutely loved about him when he first got here still ring true. And as we grow and develop, you know, I think a lot of teams that you saw even playing deep into the playoffs, you know, it was something that was a foundation of what they did. I think that is something that we will like to implement with him and, and get him in that position."
On his relationship with Daniels:
"Yeah, I think, you know, that's one of the best parts for me is that we have two years worth of relationship already built up. There's already deposits in that bank that, you know, we can pull from. If we're talking about, Hey, what does he do well, what are we building now? A lot of those conversations have been had over the last two years. So, it's not starting exactly from square one. I think as much as we can, we're gonna keep some continuity of the way he's called things and then, you know, we gotta build on it. I'm really excited to just continue to challenge him, you know, pull the best outta what he does and help him grow because, you know, we all know as he goes, this, this group will go. It's really an exciting challenge and opportunity to just get him to his best."
On the biggest thing he learned from working with former offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury:
"You know, I think it's hard to ignore, like how much stress and no huddle, you know, the tempo element puts on a defense, and Kliff was incredibly gracious to me, just allowing me into his brain of how he thinks, how he sees the game, and what he has seen work. And so, the last two years were incredibly valuable for me to see how he approached game planning, how he went about, you know, teaching concepts. He was incredibly gracious. So, I'm really thankful I got that experience with him as a player and a coach."
On how he will elevate the offense:
"I think I'm gonna try to bring out the best in everybody. I think whether it's coaches or players there's gonna be standards set with regard to excellence and holding those guys to it. I think I've been really fortunate, like I mentioned a couple times, to see it done at a really high level and understand that you can't compromise on the standards of excellence and our offense will be held to it, our coaches will be held to it, and it's what I expect from myself and it's a really fun opportunity to kind of implement from the ground up what the Washington Commanders offense can look like in 2026."
On the offensive skill position players:
Yeah, for sure. Right now we've got 23 guys under contract on the offense, and I feel really good about it, man, I really do. Six in the wide receiver room returning, [WR] Terry [McLaurin] obviously at the top of the group. And it's our opportunity, it's our challenge to get the best outta every single guy in the skill position groups and up front, man, we bring back so many guys who played a ton of snaps on the offensive line, and the continuity there is gonna be key. And a group that played really well last year. And so as much as we can, it's about the next 70 days for our coaching staff, evaluating our own players, acquiring new players, to figure out what we do best, and then implementing it so that 200 days from now when we take the field, 220 days from now, when we take the field that we have put in a ton of work to put our guys in a position, teach what they do really well, to be at their best week one. So, I think we got a long way to go, but I think it's going to be a fun construction process."
On his vision for RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt:
"I think as everybody saw, all the flashes that Bill [Croskey-Merritt] had in his rookie season, I think it's really exciting to think about what he can look like in a second year behind this offensive line. And I think we've got one running back signed, so there will definitely be acquisitions that take place there. And it depends exactly kind of how the room looks, but man, incredibly confident in what Bill can be in this league as a starting running back."
On what he's learned about the staff over the last two years:
"Yeah, I think you learn a ton in both seasons, right? You learn some of that perseverance isn't always about strength. Perseverance [is] sometimes about direction and Dan Quinn has always been a steady presence for us, and he has just pointed us in the right direction, and you see that through and through whether it was 12 and five or five and 12. So, his pouring into me, I have felt from the first day, just I have felt that for me, but I've seen it for every single member of our organization. And that's something that you can't overlook when you make decisions that you want to be a part of this. And so that was really special. And then I think on the coaching staff, you learn in the hard days that there's a lot of men in this group that we can get in the foxhole together and, we're going to go battle it out and we're going to treat each other with respect. We're going to communicate at a high level and go and really go after this thing."
On important markers throughout the offseason:
"Sure, I think right now it's digging into our own roster so that we can evaluate for free agency and the draft coming from the evaluation side. And give our feedback on what's going to fit within our offense. And then with the offensive staff it's building exactly what we want this to look like come September. So, that's what the work we're doing daily is. We finished, pretty close to finished staffing, so now it's kind of constructing exactly what we want the offense to look like with regard to concepts and formations and how we're going to get after it."
