Blough, Kerrigan rising as NFL coaches

Every day during the season, without fail.

David Blough pulls into the parking lot outside the Washington Commanders facility at 5:30 a.m., and, on the dot, here comes Ryan Kerrigan pulling into another parking space.

Kerrigan’s in Year 4 as an assistant coach with the franchise he played 10 years for — and still is its all-time official sacks leader — and Blough is in his second season after retiring from a five-year career that included stints with four teams.

They greet each other, fall in line and walk into the facility together. In the locker room, either getting ready to work out or wrapping up those early morning workouts, Kerrigan and Blough chat about their growing families — Kerrigan and wife Jessica have four kiddos, David and Melissa have one with hopes for more — but conversation naturally turns to another common thread, one that runs deep, as alma maters tend to do.

They’re Purdue Boilermakers — and faces of the football program in different eras. The aw-shucks, humble demeanor on the surface of a relentless worker and the servant leader with a Texas drawl and sly, crooked smile that belies a fierce competitor.

Kerrigan, a three-year starting defensive end, built one of the most prolific careers in Purdue football history: a consensus unanimous All-American, a two-time First Team All-Big Ten player and still the school’s all-time leader in forced fumbles from 2007-10.

A two-time captain, Blough was a top-five statistical quarterback and helped produce one of the most shocking victories in school history with an upset over third-ranked Ohio State in 2018 in Ross-Ade Stadium, with buddy Tyler Trent closely watching. 

After chatting Purdue, families and life, they shower and part, heading to the chaotic, busy careers they’ve chosen as coaches in the world’s premier football league.

And there’s nowhere else they’d rather be.

Time is the essence

The schedule is jammed, more to do than it seems hours in a day.

As a player in the NFL, dedication and commitment are part of the job description. Film study is essential, working to memorize and understand an opposing player’s every move because the slightest clue is an edge to win the rep. And reps add up, maybe producing a game-changing or game-winning play.

To produce that kind of spark, the body has to be just right, too, which requires hours in the weight room, hours in recovery, hours stretching. And hours in meetings, with specific positional units, with the offense or defense, with the whole team. And hours in practice, working technique in positional drills, walking through plays with the full unit, going full bore against scout teams.

And then, finally, heading home.

Kerrigan and Blough quickly found that coaching in the NFL isn’t the same.

The schedule taped by the entrance to the facility that logs minute by minute for a draining, full day? That’s for the players.

Those 5:30 a.m. workouts? They’re to keep up with the rigors of a schedule that is, somehow, even more demanding for Kerrigan and Blough than before. Coaches tack on two hours before that listed players’ schedule starts and another three after. At least.

It was that kind of obligation that made Kerrigan believe he wouldn’t coach once his playing career was done.

“It was a hard no for the longest time in my NFL career,” Kerrigan says. “For most of my career, I saw coaches I played under working really crazy hours, and it just seemed like it wasn’t necessarily something that was really appealing to me.”

But once Kerrigan’s body started to betray him — a degenerative knee injury ended his career in 2021, after a one-year stint with the Eagles — Kerrigan couldn’t fathom walking away from the game.

So he dipped his toe into the coaching ranks, coming back to Washington as a coaching intern for training camp in 2022. Kerrigan quickly realized the experience, the expertise, the knowledge he’d gained had to be shared. He realized he liked imparting wisdom and providing insight and practical tools to make players better. When a full-time coaching spot as an assistant defensive line coach opened, Kerrigan seized the opportunity.

“It’s been cool,” Kerrigan says of the coaching journey, which shifted to assistant linebackers / pass rush specialist coach in 2024. “It’s fun just getting to see ball from the coaching minds now. You definitely learn a lot more. I have the thought of, ‘Man, if I had this kind of knowledge, if I’d have been able to see the game from this lens as a player, that would have been awesome.’

“The lion’s share of what you do in coaching is you watch film. You prepare because you’ve got to prepare the guys. Whereas a player, especially as a line-of-scrimmage player, we’re concerned about the guy you were going against instead of the scheme. But now, as the coach, you have to be really on it with the scheme. So that’s been cool to develop in that way.”

Kerrigan says his strengths as a coach are being detail-oriented and relatable, and he’s tried to stay empathetic to the needs of players. He admits it was “interesting” when he first started coaching because he was leading players that he’d just been on the field with each week and had to shift to giving official direction and acting as an authority figure.

“I think it was actually a blessing for me because they knew that when I’m telling them something, it’s coming from a good place. It’s coming from a place of, ‘Hey, this is how I think it’s going to help you perform your best and do the best for the team,’” Kerrigan says. “I think having that relationship and not being too far removed from it has helped.”

Kerrigan is 15 years removed from Purdue, and it doesn’t always feel like it.

He was stoked to return to campus for the season opener in 2025 as honorary captain, not just to soak up the college atmosphere in Ross-Ade again, but especially to introduce his kids to a place he considers special.

The feeling is mutual.

Kerrigan isn’t just one of the best defensive players to ever play for Purdue.The way he went about the game also endeared him to so many. He was relentless in his preparation, in the weight room, film study and on the practice field, and reckless in the best way on game days because of it.

Not that he’d want to talk much about any of that individual success. Then and now, Kerrigan is still humble at his core, borne from how his parents raised him and his siblings in Muncie, Indiana.

“Be humble, but be confident. You don’t have to be a jerk about it,” he says. “I think, too, playing a game like football, you get humbled quite a bit. You can be really good at times, but there are going to be other times when you’re going to come across a guy who is going to make you feel a little inferior. So it’s like you can’t sit there and puff your chest when things are going well because you could turn around the next week and be feeling not so good about yourself.

“That’s how I approached it. I never wanted to be a guy who was braggadocios in any way. I just wanted to go out and do my job and make plays.”

No wonder Kerrigan was, and is, so beloved by the fan base.

Alongside Drew Brees, Kerrigan is an unquestioned face of Purdue football. And he has happily embraced the role.

“I love it,” he says. “A lot of the people in the league know me as that, ‘You’re the Purdue guy.’ I’m like, ‘Hell, yeah, that’s me.’ I wear my Old Gold and Black stuff around here all the time. I get excited when I’m driving down the road and I see someone with a Purdue license plate (frame) or a decal on their car. I’m like, ‘Oh, cool, one of me.’ I definitely take a lot of pride in that.”

Seeking influence, deflecting praise

Blough always knew he’d be here.

Well, maybe not here — in the NFL — exactly. But coaching, no doubt.

How could he not, considering most of the important men in his life have been coaches? Coaching is an “honorable line of work,” Blough says. More than a career, it’s a calling, in a way. A privilege to walk alongside boys, young men or grown men, depending on the level. An opportunity to teach, to shepherd, to influence, to support.

All traits that are, well, Blough.

At Purdue, maybe more than anything, he was known as a leader, someone willing to serve others while also setting an example and expectation for work, toughness and competitiveness to envious and, at times, ridiculous levels (ping-pong bragging rights?).

All very Boilermaker-by-definition qualities that spearheaded a shift for the football program, as the 2018 season— Blough’s senior season and coach Jeff Brohm’s second at Purdue — produced three victories against ranked opponents.

“That was most memorable,” Blough says, “helping kind of launch it into the years Aidan O’Connell got to lead and take them to a Big Ten championship (game). So we got to set the foundation for what Coach Brohm was doing there.”

Even then, when Blough’s character and tenacity were on full display, his talent showed, too. Blough holds the record for most passing yards in a game (572) and ranks No. 3 in Purdue history in completions, passing touchdowns and starts, and No. 4 in passing yards. (After Blough is reminded of that impressive list, he’s quick to point out he was 13-23 as a starter and had “a lot” of interceptions, because of course he would.)

His football mind was sharp then, pulling from every quarterback coach and play caller in his midst, from John Shoop to Tim Lester to Brian Brohm to Jeff Brohm. In the NFL, he backed up elite-level quarterback talents in Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, Kirk Cousins and Kyler Murray. He worked under innovative offensive minds in Kliff Kingsbury, Ben Johnson and Kevin O’Connell.

Soaking up every bit he could along the way, taking notes both mental and physical, Blough has been able to form his own style. He loves being the one creating the content now, not just consuming it as players do. It’s one of his strengths as a coach, artistically expressing new ideas, plays and concepts and presenting those in a variety of ways to best equip Washington phenom Jayden Daniels — the 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year — and the quarterbacks in the room as assistant QB coach.

“I’ve fallen in love with the greatest chess match, which is the highest level in the NFL,” Blough says. “I think experience is such a great teacher. … I’ve gotten to learn how they see the game, and I think what’s fun is putting that puzzle together for where we’re at now and what to share at the right time that may help you beat the (opponent) we’re playing this Sunday. I’ve been able to add tools at every step of the way, just observing.”

That curious, innovative mind has wowed the NFL. So much so, the 30-year-old is already in high demand.

Three NFL teams wanted to interview Blough last offseason for coaching openings, and the Commanders blocked them all. Kingsbury, who called Blough “one of the brightest quarterbacks I’ve ever been around,” told reporters last season that Blough has “a chance to move up really quickly in this profession.”

In typical Blough fashion, he deflects the praise.

“I really am fortunate to have been around a lot of people who are having success and that my path happened to cross with them. I don’t think it’s by coincidence,” says Blough, a subtle reference to his deep faith. “I am very thankful for (Commanders head coach) Dan Quinn and the opportunity that I’ve had to start here and learn under him and his intentional development for me. So that if there’s another position, whether it’s here or somewhere else along the way, I’ll know he made sure I never really missed a step.”

Blough would love to continue to move up the coaching ranks and ultimately become a head coach — “one day after seeing a lot of other responsibilities.” He says that could be at “my local high school” in Texas or in the NFL.

That kind of aspiration isn’t motivated by fame or money.

That’s not Blough.

“First and foremost, I would love to make an impact on people,” he says. “That’s what I’ve learned, as technology is entering the space, as everybody is running different schemes, the thing that is going to remain is the human element. I want to make an impact on people.”

Blough’s already doing that, Kerrigan says.

“He’s loved in the building,” Kerrigan says, “does a great job, has a really good way with the guys.”

The same goes for the older of the iconic Boilermaker pair.

“Ryan’s looking out for me because he’s been in Washington longer than I have. He’s a resource I’m able to pull from, and that’s probably more of who he is than the situation we’re in,” Blough says. “I didn’t get to know him much when I was at Purdue, other than shaking his hand a bit. And now, I’m really glad that our paths have crossed.”

Written by Stacy Clardie, who covered Kerrigan and Blough for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette and GoldandBlack.com during their Purdue careers. She is now the lead marketing and communications strategist, undergraduate education, College of Engineering, Purdue University.