When the Washington Commanders hired former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to be their new head coach, there were bound to be some assistants who followed Quinn.
One was former Dallas secondary coach/pass game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. Whitt, who followed Quinn from Atlanta to Dallas, joined him in Washington as his new defensive coordinator. It was a long overdue promotion for Whitt, who will call the Commanders’ defensive plays.
The Commanders attempted to hire others, but the Cowboys blocked the moves. Whitt received a promotion; therefore, Dallas couldn’t stop him from leaving. Also following Quinn and Whitt was assistant defensive line coach Sharrif Floyd, who will have the same role with Washington.
How did Dallas replace Quinn? Before the Cowboys hired Mike Zimmer, they interviewed recently fired Washington coach Ron Rivera. While Rivera didn’t get the job, Dallas did hire former Washington defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina.
Now, another former Commanders assistant is heading to the Cowboys.
On Friday, Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News reported that former Washington defensive assistant Cristian Garcia was joining Dallas as a defensive quality control assistant.
Cowboys hired Cristian Garcia as defensive quality control coach, two people with knowledge of the move said. Garcia is a promising, well respected coach who finished last season as the Commanders’ interim DB coach. He will assist Al Harris in secondary.
Garcia follows Jeff…
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) February 23, 2024
When Rivera fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and secondary coach Brent Vieselmeyer in November — after a blowout loss to the Cowboys — he took over as Washington’s defensive play-caller. He also gave Garcia a promotion as the interim defensive backs coach. Garcia would help Rivera in game planning over the Commanders’ final five games of 2023.
A University of Florida graduate, Garcia joined Washington in 2021 as a defensive coaching assistant. In 2022, he was moved to a defensive quality control coach before being promoted to assistant defensive backs coach/nickels in 2023.