Say hello to Mr. Quinn

February 5, 2024

by Steve Thomas

After several days of unofficial reporting from various media sources, Washington officially announced this past Saturday that the team has hired former Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn to be Ron Rivera’s successor as the new head coach of the Redskins Washington Football Team Commanders here in Washington.  What, exactly, is Washington getting in its employment of Quinn?  I thought this would be the perfect time to dig into his background in order to see what we can learn.  Let’s dive right in.

Quinn, who is 53 years old, began his football career as a defensive lineman at Salisbury State University from 1990 to 1993.  He then coached in various capacities for William & Mary, VMI, and Hofstra University, before being picked up as a defensive quality control coach for Dennis Erickson’s San Francisco 49ers.  Quinn stayed in that capacity until he was promoted to defensive line coach for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.  At that point, after San Francisco fired Erickson, new head coach Nick Saban hired him to serve as the defensive line coach for the Miami Dolphins from 2005 to 2006.  Quinn then worked at the New York Jets’ defensive line coach under Eric Mangini from 2007 to 2008, when Mangini was fired.  His next stop was with the Seattle Seahawks, where he was the assistant head coach and defensive line coach, first for head coach Jim Mora, then for Pete Carroll in his first year in Seattle.

Quinn left the NFL in 2011 to be the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at the University of Florida, where he stayed until he was hired by Pete Carroll again to return to the Seahawks, this time as defensive coordinator.  Seattle won Super Bowl XLVIII’s during Quinn’s tenure.

Quinn was then hired by the Atlanta Falcons as their head coach in 2015, and he stayed in that capacity through the 2020 season.  He was fired following week 5 of the 2020 season and has served as the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys for the past three seasons.

Quinn accumulated an overall record of 43 – 42 in six seasons in Atlanta, which equated to a 50.6% winning percentage, and led his team to 5 playoff games, including an appearance in Super Bowl LI in 2017, which the Falcons lost to the New England Patriots by a score of 34 – 28 after blowing a 28 – 3 lead in the third quarter.  It’s important to understand that Quinn inherited a Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Ryan, Pro Bowl wide receiver Julio Jones, and All Pro receiver Roddy White, albeit in his decline phase.  That Falcons team had gone from three straight playoff appearances in 2010, 2011, and 2012, including a conference title game loss in 2012, with a roster that, to be fair, also including one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history, Hall of Famer Tony Gonzales, to two straight bad years.  The Falcons went 4 – 12 and 6 – 10 in 2013 and 2014, respectively, which is why former head coach Mike Smith was fired.

Atlanta’s defense had really fallen off the cliff in 2013 and 2014, and were ranked 27th in points surrendered and last in yards surrendered in 2014.  Quinn dramatically improved that immediately when the 2015 team improved to 14th in points and 16th in yards.  That offseason, the Falcons made a distinct effort to improve their linebacker group, drafting future All Pro Vic Beasley with the 9th overall pick and defensive end Grady Jarrett in round 5, and signing starters Justin Durant and Brooks Reed.  Not all of these players worked out in the long-term, mind you, especially Durant, who was cut after just one year.  The point is, though that Quinn faced a similar circumstance in Atlanta as he now faces in Washington, i.e., bad linebackers.  Defensively, Quinn ran a 4 – 3 alignment, which is what Washington would have run under Rivera if the team had ever been able to acquire three starting-quality linebackers.

Ultimately, though, Quinn’s defenses in Atlanta were mostly average at best, from a statistical perspective, with 2017 being an outlier in which they were ranked 7th in points scored and 8th in yards surrendered.  Quinn and Atlanta’s front office, Thomas Dimitroff Jr., spent significant draft capital on defense in subsequent years, not just 2015, including safety Keanu Neal and linebacker Deion Jones in rounds 1 and 2 in 2016, defensive end Takkarist McKinley in round 1 in 2017, corner Isaiah Oliver in round 2 in 2018, and corner A.J. Terrell and defensive end Marlon Davidson in rounds 1 and 2 in 2020.  Of all of the defenders drafted during Quinn’s tenure in Atlanta, 2015 5th round pick Jarrett is the only one to become an above-average, long-term starter.  Of the rest, only Terrell still has a chance of being a long-term starter; Beasley had one outstanding year, 2016, for which he earned First-Team All Pro honors, but subsequently fell off, causing the Falcons let him leave in free agency 2020.  The big-picture point to understand is that during Quinn’s tenure, the Falcons put significant draft capital into the defense, but it never became an elite unit except for 2017.  Quinn’s defensive coordinators included Richard Smith in 2015 and 2016, who was fired after the loss in Super Bowl LI, and Marquand Manuel in 2017 and 2018, with Quinn himself taking over as defensive coordinator until he was fired in week 5 of the 2020 season.

Offensively, quarterback Matt Ryan mostly remained an elite starter while playing for Quinn; however, as a whole, Quinn’s offense lacked talent, particularly early in his tenure, and never became a juggernaut.  Quinn appears to have allowed his offensive coordinators – Kyle Shanahan in 2015 and 2016, Steve Sarkisian in 2017 and 2018, and Dirk Koetter in 2019 and 2020 – to establish the offensive scheme, so the Falcons had a West Coast system from 2015 to 2018, then transitioned to Air Coryell in 2019 and 2020.  The Falcons’ 2016 offense, under Shanahan and featuring the aforementioned Ryan and Jones, both of whom were selected as First-Team All-Pros, plus running back Devonta Freeman, was probably the best in the NFL that year, being ranked 1st in points scored and 2nd in yards gained.  Freeman was drafted in 2014, before Quinn’s tenure, and was never able to duplicate the statistical success he experienced in 2016.  Every other year of Quinn’s time in Atlanta, they were mostly middle of the pack in terms of production, with 2020 being the low point.

Draft-wise, the Falcons didn’t spend a ton of draft capital on offense, with the two big names being receiver Calvin Ridley in round 1 in 2018  and guard Chris Lindstrom in round 1 in 2019.  Lindstrom, in particular, was a success, making the Pro Bowl in both 2022 and 2023.  He was rewarded with a five year, $102M contract extension that keeps him under contract through 2028.

In Dallas from 2021 – 2023, Quinn’s defenses were consistently among the best in the NFL, albeit admittedly thanks to elite talent found in the draft and free agency, such as Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Stephon Gilmore, and many others.  They were ranked 7th, 5th, and 5th in points surrendered in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and 19th, 12th, and 5th in yards surrendered.  Regardless of the overload in defensive talent, Quinn deserves credit for keeping it all together, particularly in the face of some notable injuries.

What are the conclusions about Quinn’s tenures in Atlanta and Dallas, and what do they say about his service in Washington?  First, recognizing that Quinn wasn’t the Falcons’ general manager and therefore didn’t have the final say on the draft, the Falcons spent alot of draft assets on the defensive players but were unable to ever establish and maintain a top 10 defense.  Second, Quinn inherited a Pro Bowl quarterback, but to his credit kept him at an elite level throughout his tenure.  Third, Quinn had strong offensive coordinators, leading me to believe that he left much of the offensive to them.  Fourth, Quinn is willing to adjust as the situation warrants.  In addition, Quinn was always known to have strong leadership ability, which is something that new Washington owner Josh Harris and general manager Adam Peters both claim to value.

From all of this, it appears likely that Quinn will advocate for a big overhaul of the defense.  Frankly, he doesn’t have the best record of talent development in Atlanta, but Micah Parsons in Dallas obviously blossomed under Quinn’s leadership.  Whether that was due more to Parson’s natural ability or Quinn’s coaching is an open question; the likely answer is that it was a combination of both.  Quinn will likely stick with the 4 – 3, so Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne should fit in nicely.  The Falcons drafted some bigger corners, so I’d anticipate the same in Washington.  Washington’s linebacker group is the biggest deficiency, and by that I mean that they essentially don’t have a linebacker group for 2024.  Clearly, if history is a guide, Quinn will address this very early on.  As is true for most teams, ultimately, the success of Quinn’s defense in Washington will largely depend on whether they can find talent.

What Quinn does with Washington’s quarterback situation is anyone’s guess given that he didn’t have to find a quarterback in Atlanta.  However, if his work with Matt Ryan is any guide, that would lead one to believe that he might advocate for a traditional pocket passer rather than a mobile type.  That would logically mean David Mayo over either Caleb Williams or Michael Penix Jr. as the team’s top pick.  Media reports have surfaced that Quinn has hired Cliff Kingsbury, and Kingsbury is definitely not a traditional, pocket passing type of guy.  I expect that Quinn will let Kingsbury have significant authority, perhaps even free reign, over the offense, so that might mean that Washington does, in fact, go the non-traditional quarterback route.  We’ll see.

Mostly, though, what I think Quinn’s background shows is that he’s going to exhibit strong personal leadership.  He’s had a great reputation at every stop, with players praising him, so it’s probable that that will continue here in DC.  Quinn will be a “players’ coach”.  Will that translate to a team that will consistently win, for the first time in 30 years?  That’s clearly an open question, especially since he was unable to accomplish that goal with Atlanta, and Dallas has an elite offense for which he wasn’t responsible that factored heavily into the occasion.  What I am confident in saying is that the days of drama and ridiculous, disgusting scandals involving the Washington team are over, and that’s a wonderful thing.

Now if they could just do something about that nickname…..

Let me know what you think in the comment section below.