The Washington Commanders have a new quarterbacks coach. In an announcement Tuesday, the Commanders named former Stanford offensive coordinator Tavita Pritchard as the team’s quarterbacks coach. Meanwhile, last year’s quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese got reassigned to senior offensive assistant.
The shakeup comes after the Commanders hired Eric Bieniemy as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach after ten seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, the last five as their offensive coordinator. Bieniemy does have complete control of the offense, including the formation of the staff.
Pritchard and Kansas City Chiefs running backs coach Greg Lewis visited the Commanders’ team facility in Ashburn, Virginia. Their visits were presumably for interviews.
Ken Zampese stays with Commanders
Zampese will move into the role occupied by Jim Hostler for the past two seasons. The Commanders parted ways with Hostler just days after Bieniemy came on board.
Zampese was one of eight candidates who interviewed for the Commanders offensive coordinator opening that went to Bieniemy. Zampese is a long-time NFL assistant, joining the NFL coaching ranks in 1998. Most of his time has been as a quarterbacks coach.
Another role Zampese will have next season is game management. Bieniemy will call the offense’s plays. But Zampese’s experience could be beneficial by shaping the Commanders’ game management.
Tavita Pritchard leaving Stanford behind after 17 years
Meanwhile, Pritchard moves on to the NFL and the Commanders after nearly 17 consecutive years at Stanford. He arrived at Palo Alto as a player in 2006. He appeared in 31 games at quarterback from 2006-2009.
Pritchard threw 15 touchdowns and 24 interceptions as a player. He transitioned into a grad assistant in 2010. In 2011 he was hired as a defensive assistant. After two years in that role, Pritchard became Stanford’s running backs coach.
From 2014-2017, Pritchard was the Cardinal’s quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. He got promoted to offensive coordinator in 2018 to replace Mike Bloomgren, who left to become the head coach of Rice.
Pritchard held the position through last season. David Shaw stepped down as head coach after the 2022 season. Stanford hired Troy Taylor as head coach. Taylor announced he will serve as the offensive coordinator and call plays. However, Pritchard would remain on the staff as the quarterbacks coach.
Instead, Pritchard is heading to the NFL. He’ll work under Bieniemy. Pritchard will run the quarterbacks room. Sam Howell is the only quarterback currently under contract with the Commanders.
Howell will head into the offseason as Washington’s QB1. The Commanders selected Howell in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. After not playing a down in the first 16 games, Howell made his NFL debut, starting Washington’s Week 18 season finale against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Commanders expect to add a veteran quarterback to push and mentor Howell.
Pritchard and Zampese’s appointments settle the quarterback position and game management. The Commanders still have an opening for wide receivers coach. Drew Terrell, who held the position the past two seasons, left to join the Arizona Cardinals coaching staff.
