Commanders Secondary Aiming At Being the 'Best Athletes On the Team'

The Washington Commanders secondary is looking to set an example on what it means to be an elite athlete.

Washington Commanders assistant defensive backs coach William Gay (left) and safety Jeremy Chinn (right). / Instagram/southcity22

ASHBURN, Va. -- Overall, the Washington Commanders expect to be an explosive and aggressive team.

Defensive tackle Daron Payne said the defense is looking to hunt this season, and the Commanders are expected to look much different than they did the last time we saw them on the field.

The playmakers on the offensive side of the ball want to prove rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels can trust his weapons in Washington like he did when he earned the Heisman Trophy at LSU.

And the secondary, it also has lofty goals. To be the best on the field, every snap.

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Washington Commanders assistant defensive backs coach William Gay (left) and safety Jeremy Chinn (right). / Instagram/southcity22

"Everybody and their grandma in the stand knows what a DB is."

- William Gay, Assistant DBs Coach

"We call ourselves the best athletes on the team. So that's what we need to be," assistant defensive backs coach William Gay says. "When the ball is thrown in the air we must be there to stop it. If the ball get past the linemen, the linebackers, we must be there to tackle."

Gay says it's not only important for the secondary to be the best athletes on the field because their team needs to know they can be trusted to make plays, but also because they're one of the few positions on the field where everyone knows when they do well or do poorly.

"Everybody and their grandma in the stand knows what a DB is," said Gay. "They might not know what a D-Lineman is. They might not know what a linebacker is, but they know if you got scored on or not as a DB. So we take pride in that. We love it. We love adversity, we love to fight through it...and we always like to shine."

Like many coaches on the Commanders staff, Gay knows what he's talking about as a coach because he lived it as a player.

Entering the league as a fifth-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, Gay spent all but one of his 11 pro seasons playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Since his playing days came to an end he's turned to coaching spending time with the Steelers on their staff and with Missouri State in 2020.

In joining the Washington coaching staff he's also reuniting with defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. who was Gay's cornerbacks coach at the University of Louisville.

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