Washington Redskins hire Matt Cavanaugh as quarterbacks coach

The Redskins will have a fresh pair of eyes on Robert Griffin III and the other quarterbacks when camp start this summer.

The team announced Wednesday that it has hired Matt Cavanaugh as its quarterbacks coach. Last season, the Redskins did not have a quarterbacks coach. Coach Jay Gruden was expected to take a large part of the quarterback coaching duties. Offensive coordinator Sean McVay also worked with the quarterbacks. The Redskins were one of two NFL teams last season without a coach specifically assigned to the quarterbacks.

Cavanaugh most recently served as quarterbacks coach of the Chicago Bears from 2013-14. In 2013, Chicago’s quarterbacks set single-season team records in passer rating (96.9), passing yards (4,450), passing touchdowns (32) and completion percentage (64.4). However, Chicago’s passing game had a variety of problems last season that led to the benching of quarterback Jay Cutler.

Prior to joining the Bears, Cavanaugh spent 2009-12 coaching quarterbacks for the New York Jets, guiding the team to two AFC Championship game appearances.

The Redskins first thought Gruden and McVay would be able to handle the quarterbacks, particularly since Gruden handled the offensive play-calling. That left McVay an opportunity to work with the quarterbacks.

During the season, the duo realized bringing multiple quarterbacks up to game speed in a new system while running the rest of the team and offense required a person specifically assigned to the duty. That approach was already almost universal in the league.

Enter Cavanaugh, whose background includes stints as an offensive coordinator with the Bears (1997-98), Baltimore Ravens (1999-2004) and University of Pittsburgh (2005-08).

Cavanaugh won two Super Bowl titles as a backup quarterback with the Giants (Super Bowl XXV) and 49ers (Super Bowl XIX). He was a second-round selection (50th overall) of the Patriots in 1978 NFL Draft, appearing in 112 career regular season contests with 19 starts and completing 305-of-579 passes for 4,332 yards and 28 touchdowns.

He’ll take over a quarterback trio that is in flux. The Redskins have to determine if they are able to move forward with Griffin as the starter, retain Kirk Cousins or trade him and what value veteran Colt McCoy can provide them. All three presented positives and problems last season.

Cavanaugh is the latest in a series of offseason coaching changes for the Redskins. They hired Joe Barry to be the new defensive coordinator. Perry Fewell replaced Raheem Morris as the secondary coach. They decided decided last week not to bring back outside linebackers coach Brian Baker and defensive line coach Jacob Burney. Bill Callahan was hired to coach the offensive line. Washington even hired a new general manager, Scot McCloughan.

Gruden forewarned of the changes at the end of the season.

“Yeah, there’s definitely been some thought to a lot of different things we’re going to do staff-wise. I’m not going to stand up here and say everything is going to be exactly the same as next year. I’m not going to do it. There will be some changes. I just don’t know where they are yet, what they’re gonna be, but I promise you there will be some changes. Maybe some additions, maybe some subtractions, but moving forward, we’ll have some changes for the better and make this team better.”

There have been changes. How they influence the team won’t be determined until the fall.