Steelers Hire Former Commanders Coordinator for Major Role

The Washington Commanders replaced both their coordinators following their disastrous 2025 season.

Kliff Kingsbury is still on the search for his next home after reaching an agreement to part ways with the Commanders, while former defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. has found a new team after being fired in Washington.

After serving as the DC for Dan Quinn the past two seasons, Whitt Jr. will now reunite with Mike McCarthy in Pittsburgh with the Steelers as their assistant head coach/secondary coach.

The Steelers are hiring former Commanders DC Joe Whitt Jr. as assistant head coach/secondary coach, sources say.

Whitt, 47, spent 11 seasons on Mike McCarthy’s staff with the Packers. Now, they’re reunited in Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/8fwVxOVIJk
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 4, 2026

Whitt Jr. Reunites With Mike McCarthy in Pittsburgh

Whitt Jr.'s two-season tenure as the DC for the Commanders did not go according to plan. The defense struggled for the better part of those two seasons, especially once Whitt Jr. was handed over playing calling duties to begin the 2025 season. That responsibility was pulled from him mid-season by Quinn, which pretty much wrote on the wall that he would be on the outs following the 2025 season.

Green Bay Packers defense pass game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr Adam Wesley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin | Adam Wesley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Whitt Jr. has an extensive history of coaching in the NFL, from working with the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, and Dass Cowboys, but where he really cut his teeth was with the Green Bay Packers and McCarthy over 11 seasons as a defensive quality control coach, cornerbacks coach, and passing game coordinator. Whitt Jr. was part of the Packers' staff that won Super Bowl XLV.

McCarthy and Whitt Jr. reconnected with the Cowboys when the former was the head coach, deepening their 14-plus-year professional relationship. McCarthy clearly values Whitt's defensive/secondary expertise and loyalty, and their reunion in Pittsburgh exemplifies that.

Things might not have worked out in the DMV for Whitt. Still, he will now get a chance to prove himself again by working alongside new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to help turn around a Steelers' defense that struggled, particularly in the secondary.

The continuity between all three, Whitt, Graham, and McCarthy, will be key to the Steelers being able to get over the middling hump they have found themselves in for the better part of a decade under Mike Tomlin. And if things can be turned around for the defense and the Steelers, then Whitt Jr. could find himself a candidate for a DC job in the future.

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