Washington Commanders OC Search: Jim Caldwell turns down request to interview

The Washington Commanders fired Offensive Coordinator Scott Turner on Tuesday after 3 seasons with the team. Turner was signed to a contract extension before last season, and still had two years left on his deal. Washington’s offense underperformed and multiple players had spoken with the media about the issues they had with Turner and the offense he ran. Washington missed the playoffs for the second year in a row, and had multiple starting quarterbacks again. Carson Wentz was the new savior for the franchise, and the team had to trade two 3rd round picks to the Indianapolis Colts to acquire him. That experiment failed, and now Washington once again has major decisions to make at QB and OC.

After the Turner news there was a report from Darren Haynes that the team would look outside the organization to fill the position. Quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese is also reportedly being considered for the position and will likely interview for it. Zampese sounds like the fall back option if they can’t attract anyone they like to take the job.

This will be a difficult sell for a lot of potential replacements. Ron Rivera is likely entering his lame duck season as the head coach of the Commanders. He has missed the playoffs two out of his three season, and his only trip to the postseason in Washington came via a division title with a losing record. There is also the looming ownership issue that likely won’t be resolved in time for a new owner to make significant coaching changes before the 2023 season, if Dan Snyder even sells the team this year. Anyone taking this position isn’t signing up for job security, they are signing up for job opportunity.

The Washington Commanders contacted former Colts and Lions Head Coach Jim Caldwell to see if he was interested in interviewing for their open OC job. Caldwell turned down their request, and is currently being interviewed for several open head coaching jobs, including the Panthers and Broncos. He is not expected to land either of those jobs, but you don’t know for sure until the positions are filled. Caldwell will likely be the first of several candidates who pass on this job while they still have other options.