ASHBURN, VA (WTKR)- Darryl Tapp is no stranger to the Commanders. He played for Washington during the 2013 campaign and resides in Ashburn during the offseason. Now he'll be working right up the street.
Tapp is being hired by the Commanders as the team's defensive line coach as part of Dan Quinn's staff, a source confirmed to News 3 Wednesday afternoon. The former Hornet star capped off his season with the 49ers this past Sunday, a 25-22 overtime loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.
After a 12-year playing career with the Seahawks, Eagles, Lions, Saints and Buccaneers, in addition to Washington, Tapp transitioned into coaching. He broke into the profession in 2018 as a defensive quality control coach at Central Michigan and followed that up with a year as Vanderbilt's special teams quality control coach. Tapp joined his alma mater as Virginia Tech's co-defensive line coach in 2020.
2021 saw him rise to the NFL ranks, hired as San Francisco's assistant defensive line coach, a position he's held for the last three seasons. Tapp has been able to help guide stars such as Nick Bosa, Javon Hargrave, Arik Armstead and Chase Young. Sunday marked his first Super Bowl in his NFL career, player or coach.
Now he gets the opportunity to run his own defensive line room. The Chesapeake native is joining a new-look Commanders staff that will include Joe Whitt Jr. as defensive coordinator, Ken Norton Jr. as linebackers coach and Tom Donatell leading the defensive backs.
Tapp, who was described as a late-bloomer by his former high school coach, David Cox, played three years of varsity football at Deep Creek. The Hornets compiled a 34-4 record during his career and he would go onto star as a linebacker at Virginia Tech, earning All-ACC First Team honors in 2004 and 2005.
The Commanders will introduce Whitt Jr. and new offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury on Thursday at Commanders Park.
