Frisco, Texas — Not entirely surprising, there has been another big change on the defensive side of the ball for the Dallas Cowboys. Following last week's decision by Dan Quinn to take over the head coaching role of the Washington Commanders. Potential fallout included the possibility of losing Joe Witt Jr.; Also to that organization.
On Sunday, that scenario became a reality when Whit officially accepted Quinn's offer to join Washington. This will see him promoted from Dallas' secondary coach and passing game coordinator to defensive coordinator or commander.
He canceled an interview scheduled for Monday morning and instead headed to the capital.
Whitt and Quinn joined the Cowboys in 2021, and the two spent the 2020 season with the Atlanta Falcons, where Quinn was the head coach at the time.
Whitt also has a long-standing relationship with Mike McCarthy dating back to his days with the Green Bay Packers, where the former served as cornerbacks coach before being promoted to defensive passing game coordinator.
That relationship and his bond with Quinn allowed Whit to hit the ground running in Dallas, quietly helping Quinn assemble a defensive unit that excels at pressuring quarterbacks and stealing the ball.
The 45-year-old will have his first shot at coordinating the entire defense, even though McCarthy and the Cowboys are NFC East rivals who play each other at least twice a season.
And this leaves the Cowboys facing questions about whether other defensive coaches will or won't remain in Dallas in 2024 — most notably cornerbacks coach Al Harris and defense Line coach Aden Daade (who is interviewing for the Cowboys' defensive coordinator role Monday) — along with a list of other position coaches.
With candidates such as Mike Zimmer and Ron Rivera also scheduled to interview, the hiring of an outside candidate could lead to big changes on that side of the ball this offseason. In fact, more than we've already witnessed in just a few weeks since Dallas was eliminated from the playoffs.
