Dan Quinn praises Tavita Pritchard and his new opportunity

The Washington Commanders lost one of their coaches after Sunday night's loss to the Denver Broncos. After three seasons with the Commanders, quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard is returning home to his alma mater, Stanford, as the new head coach.

Pritchard, 38, played quarterback for four years at Stanford before losing his job in 2009 to a freshman sensation named Andrew Luck. In 2010, Pritchard joined Stanford's coaching staff, where he'd spend the next 13 seasons, going from a graduate assistant to offensive coordinator.

In 2023, Pritchard moved to the NFL with the Commanders. When Washington fired Ron Rivera, head coach Dan Quinn kept Pritchard on staff. Over the last two seasons, Pritchard played a critical role in the development of quarterback Jayden Daniels.

On Friday, Pritchard landed his dream job. He's the head coach of his alma mater. And, coincidentally enough, the man who hired him was Luck. That's right, Luck returned to the Cardinal as the program's GM.

After Sunday's loss to the Broncos, Quinn addressed Pritchard's situation publicly for the first time, praising him.

"Tavita has been a great teammate for us, and I say that in the highest regard," Quinn said. "That's one of the highest compliments that you can give a ball player or a coach, what they mean to the staff. And the development for him. So, for him being at Stanford for so long, as a ball player there, a GA, a coach, so, it's a pretty cool opportunity for him that he's connected with Andrew, so we're all pumped for him. It's a fantastic opportunity for him. So, we're bummed personally, but yeah, we're very excited. I just think they got great things ahead there."

Classy response from Quinn. While Pritchard will be missed, the expectation is that the Commanders will promote 30-year-old former NFL quarterback David Blough from assistant QB coach to replace him. Blough is viewed as an up-and-comer around the NFL.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Dan Quinn reacts to Tavita Pritchard's new job