The Bolshoi Ballet: How David Raih is Choreographing the Commanders New Passing Attack

The offensive power shift across the Burgundy & Gold landscape has been both noticeable and publicized this offseason, with the Washington Commanders not only hiring a new Offensive Coordinator from within in David Blough (former QBs coach), but also promoting tight ends coach David Raih to Offensive Pass Game Coordinator. Head Coach Dan Quinn has certainly fostered a collaborative culture in which not only does everyone work towards a common goal, but they also seem to actually enjoy their jobs.

The DQ Culture and Collaborative Vibe

"First of all, if you worked for DQ, you would be the best version of yourself up to that point in your life," Raih said to 7 News DC's Natalie Spala. "Like, that's truly how I would describe him. His whole MO is to bring people to where they need to be, which is what a coach is supposed to do. And so then just the vibe that he set—the culture of competition and energy and collaboration is like incredible, and you're feeling that on all cylinders right now."

For Raih, this is a chance to put all the pieces together after years of position coaching. "I would say highly stimulating and, yeah, it's really cool. I spent years coaching across all the rooms, and now, you know, my job is really to tie the whole thing together under Blough's vision." Just listening to Raih talk about Blough says it all, "his leadership's been awesome. So, I respect that so much because it's been a ton of collaboration and, yeah, it's just been awesome every day."

Tying It Together: The Bolshoi Ballet of Football

Raih is ready to take that next step, which means his job now isn’t just drawing up route concepts; he's now responsible for tying those exact concepts to what they do on the field.

Tight ends coach➡️Offensive Pass Game Coord.

David Raih has coached in different position rooms throughout his career, and now he's putting all the pieces together, calling the transition into his new role highly stimulating.

Football & ballet? More similarities than you think. pic.twitter.com/Ic07xakn6B
— Natalie Spala (@_nataliespala) June 11, 2026

"It’s so fun because you've got the offensive line and the protections, which ties into the quarterback drop, which then his footwork ties into the primary and secondary receivers as he works through his progressions. In the end, what that is, is precision. I joke about it a lot, but it’s like the Bolshoi Ballet. It’s got to be precise. The whole thing happens in three seconds."
David Raih

What Raih is saying here is that everything is basically part of the next piece, and it all flows together, or it won't work. I've heard the reference made similarly in baseball when I was younger, when I was taught that shagging in-field groundballs was "part of a progression." Into what it was never really clear, as the only thing I remember is the bruises, but I suppose I did learn along the way.

"As a coach, you spend months—we always joke, you know, you spend months, and we love the football—so you're putting together all the families, the protections, you're putting the read system together, and you can't imagine how much work that is, like detail work. But really, when the whole thing comes to life is when you get on the grass and train the guys to do it at a high level."

This is where the outward focus for everyone outside that building is always on the end result of months of preparation, but, as Raih points out, the focus inside the building is on day-one terminology and staying grounded. "We've been focused on the competition, obviously, the communication's huge, things like ball security, and fundamentals. Everybody's got plays. We have an excellent scheme, but we've been hammering the fundamentals of how we actually do things at each position."

The ballot Raih is referencing here can be summed up in thoughts about the tight end room, where clearly Chig Okonkwo's vertical ball skills have the attention of anyone with eyes, but the fluidity of the "ballot" might hide presnap how John Bates is a master at his craft (inline blocking), tossing grown men around like children, or Ben Sinnott's swiss army knife like skill set of spatial movement.

Precision Timing in Mid-June

Building an offense that depends on the timing between Jayden Daniels and his teammates is not that bad a place to be in mid-June. To get to where they want to be, it needs to be a front-facing mission that everyone is focused on growing in the minute towards a higher goal.

"This is what I would want people to know: We are aligned, and we are focused on tomorrow. And you can feel that DQ has this whole building operating in the present moment. And that's all we can control."

Coach Raih is ready for the challenges that lie ahead with Commanders Training Camp right around the corner and the new season on the horizon. The entire interview can be found in the video below at about the 16:25 mark.

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