Dan Quinn was hired as the Commanders’ head coach to bring a defensive presence to a struggling franchise. Here’s what he really brings
Before the 2015 NFL season the Atlanta Falcons hired Dan Quinn. He led them into a meteoric rise, leading the team to the Super Bowl in his second season, before quickly falling back below average. Now the Washington Commanders are giving him a second chance, but is he the real deal?
Quinn made a name for himself in the NFL as the Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Both of those years, the defense, nicknamed the “Legion of Boom”, played a large role in two Super Bowl appearances and a 2013 win. The Seahawks’ defense was ranked first during both of those seasons.
After a 2014 Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots, Dan Quinn had officially tossed his name into the head coaching ring. 2015’s head coaching search included seven teams, six of which showed interest in him. He was the hot commodity of the offseason and all eyes were on his destination. Then when he landed in Atlanta, expectations were high.
Dan Quinn’s first season started off strong with a 5-0 record, before falling short with an abysmal 3-8 finish. However, his second season ended with some success; an 11-5 record and a Super Bowl appearance against Tom Brady’s New England Patriots, a familiar foe. Although, once again Dan Quinn’s team fell embarrassingly short, losing despite their early 28-3 lead.
The 2017 season didn’t have the same dominant style of the 2016 Falcons, but they only lost one more game, being 10-6. They slipped into the playoffs that year as third in their division and the sixth seed and made it to the divisional round against the Eagles, where they lost 15-10. From that point on, Quinn’s Falcons struggled to find any success. They reached a record of 7-9 two years in a row, and started off the 2020 season, his final one with the Falcons, 0-5.
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After this time, Dan Quinn’s reputation had taken a hit. He was known for his defensive success, yet during his time with the Falcons, his offense was the leading force, which was being led by Kyle Shanahan, the now dominant offensive minded head coach for the San Francisco 49ers. The Falcons defense ranked 19th during Dan Quinn’s tenure with the team; a very underwhelming number for someone with so much expectation. The only bright spot for that defensive unit were the turnovers, forcing 106, which ranked sixth over that time.
Luckily, the 2020 Dallas Cowboys had just decided to reset their coaching staff, starting with the hire of Mike McCarthy, and leading to the hire of Dan Quinn at defensive coordinator. In 2020, the Cowboys had a struggling defense, being ranked at 28th, but the arrival of Dan Quinn prompted change. After one season under Dan Quinn, the Cowboys defense was ranked seventh in the NFL.
Over his three seasons with the Cowboys, he brought their defense to rank at sixth overall, leading the league in takeaways twice, ranking sixth in points allowed. He also developed a feared group of pass rushers off of the edge, including 3 time pro bowler and two time First Team All-Pro linebacker and edge rusher, Micah Parsons.
Although the Cowboys likely didn’t want to see Dan Quinn leave their organization, it was no surprise that he left for a head coaching opportunity. After each of his first two seasons with the Cowboys, teams had shown significant interest in him as a potential head coach. Now the Washington Commanders are giving him that chance.
In 2022, the Commanders had a dominant seventh ranked defense that was predicted to continue wreaking havoc to opposing offenses in the 2023 season. Instead, the unit fell extremely short, ranking 32nd of 32 NFL defenses.
There are still a few lingering pieces of that 2022 defense, including two time pro bowler Jonathan Allen and one time pro bowler Daron Payne, who recently signed a four year extension, making him the second highest paid defensive lineman in the NFL, behind All-Pro and future hall of famer Aaron Donald. If Dan Quinn can fill in some of the missing pieces on that defense throughout free agency and the draft, he can try and continue leading dominant defenses alongside Defensive Coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. for the next set of years with the Commanders.
Now that Dan Quinn is a head coach once again, he doesn’t just need to lead a defense anymore. While the Commanders’ offense hasn’t been anything to brag about at any point in recent history, it does have some great pieces. Terry McLaurin is one of those pieces, reading 1,000 yards in four of his five seasons, playing with 13 quarterbacks during that time. The Commanders are in need of a quarterback that can play well and consistently, and after the hire of offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who has a history with predicted top 5 pick Caleb Williams at USC, the rumor is that they are in the market for that same man; a hopeful long term fix.
Yet, the Commanders won’t fix everything with a new quarterback, they are in need of a lot of players, across a lot of positions, such as edge rusher, tight end, the majority of the offensive line, cornerback, linebacker, and running back.
There is a lot to fix, but Dan Quinn has a history of fixing these kinds of teams. So the real question is, can he fix it for the long term? And is he going to be the real deal?
