The year was 2005 and the team name ‘Washington Commanders’ wasn’t even a thought for the NFL franchise that calls the nation’s capital it’s hometown.
Jayden Daniels had just turned five years old the month prior and was nearly 20 years away from being the Commanders’ first round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The head coach was Washington legend Joe Gibbs who was making his second run as the leader of the franchise, and his team defeated Jon Gruden’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2004-05 Wild Card Round, 17-10.
That is the last time this franchise has won a postseason game. It’s been nearly 20 years, five head coaches have come and gone between Gibbs and Dan Quinn who will kickoff his first Commanders training camp this week looking to end that streak.
“There’s a clear reason for optimism, and the Commanders have only one direction to go in after zero playoff victories in the past 18 seasons.”Eric Edholm, NFL.com
“There’s new blood everywhere, from the front office to the coaching staff down to the bottom of the roster. New GM Adam Peters earned praise for adding a slew of competitive veterans and rookies to help spruce up a roster that had gone stale. Dan Quinn has a long history of making an immediate impact upon arriving at new teams, helping turn the Seahawks into a Super Bowl-winning defense, elevating the Falcons as a head coach and galvanizing the Cowboys’ defense when he got to Dallas in 2021,” Eric Edholm of NFL.com wrote in his preview of this critical training camp coming up for Washington. “There’s a clear reason for optimism, and the Commanders have only one direction to go in after zero playoff victories in the past 18 seasons.”
It’s not that other head coaches haven’t gotten the Commanders – known then by different names – to the postseason.
Jim Zorn is the only coach that got a full season or more running the team without making it to the postseason.
Mike Shanahan and Ron Rivera both made playoff appearances, and both lost. Bill Callahan got 11 games at the end of the 2019 season but the 0-5 start that led to Jay Gruden’s firing pretty much killed any chance he had of creating a postseason miracle.
Even Gruden made a postseason appearance with Washington, losing his Wild Card game to the Green Bay Packers. On that staff was current Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr., then a secondary and cornerbacks coach.
Of course, he knew then he had defensive coordinator ability, and just needed the right opportunity. He’s got it now with the Commanders as coach Quinn is getting his second chance to lead an NFL roster to glory.
And in many ways there’s nowhere to go but up. The question needing answered beginning in training camp is how high they can go, and how quickly they will get there.
