Quinn never actually put down football in those months. Rather, he delved deeper into it, compiling video clips of his defenses in Atlanta from 2015 to 2020 and from the Seattle Seahawks, for whom he served as defensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014.
“What had once been good was no longer good enough,” he said. “… So, coming back for that second lap [in Dallas], I knew I wasn’t going to rinse and repeat. What were some things around the league and through college ball that could be different? The system that we put together will be similar to the one here, say, let’s collectively put together the Commander’s offense and defense.”
[Hired by the Commanders](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/02/01/dan-quinn-commanders-coach/?itid=lk_inline_manual_8) in the midst of a franchise-wide overhaul, Quinn has used the last few months to evaluate and experiment. He hired a staff with varied backgrounds and, with General Manager Adam Peters, has turned over the roster to implement his vision in Washington — his attacking-style defense, tailored to fit his personnel.
The theme of Washington’s first offseason under Quinn has been competition — a word he has used repeatedly throughout training camp. But for him and the Commanders, it’s really been about change.
“After I got done with that big cut-up of those eight years and seeing the issues that came up time and again, I studied other teams on how they would play certain things,” he said. “I was looking at different styles, different ways to go. It showed that what was once good needed more changing.”
He could only help but wonder: What went wrong? Why was his once-dominant defense continually faltering against certain concepts? Why wasn’t it better in four-minute situations? What should he have done better? Differently? More of? Less of?
Quinn set out on a quest for answers and opened up himself to change. What worked before needed to evolve. *He* needed to evolve.
The best part of Quinn that I’ve liked is his willingness to admit failure when things didn’t work and plan out new strategies. The verdict is still out if the game has passed him by but he seems very willing to delegate and put good people around him.
A lot of this rebuild hinges on Quinn and even Kliff evolving and learning from past mistakes.
At first I wa wary of the hire but having seen what happened and what he learned from his past mistakes I am confident in this era. In the past Dan Quinn wanted too much power and tried to do too much, meddling into football ops and roster decisions. He has less power here and knows his boundaries. Seems like he and AP are getting along well, and Quinn has always had an eye for good coaches. He assembled a solid supporting cast here, I really like the direction this team is going in
4 comments
One of the most significant stretches of Dan Quinn’s 21-year coaching career was his three-month unemployment. He was [fired as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/10/11/falcons-fire-head-coach-dan-quinn-gm-thomas-dimitroff-after-0-5-start/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2) in October 2020 after an 0-5 start and was out of the league until the Dallas Cowboys named him their defensive coordinator in January 2021.
Quinn never actually put down football in those months. Rather, he delved deeper into it, compiling video clips of his defenses in Atlanta from 2015 to 2020 and from the Seattle Seahawks, for whom he served as defensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014.
“What had once been good was no longer good enough,” he said. “… So, coming back for that second lap [in Dallas], I knew I wasn’t going to rinse and repeat. What were some things around the league and through college ball that could be different? The system that we put together will be similar to the one here, say, let’s collectively put together the Commander’s offense and defense.”
[Hired by the Commanders](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/02/01/dan-quinn-commanders-coach/?itid=lk_inline_manual_8) in the midst of a franchise-wide overhaul, Quinn has used the last few months to evaluate and experiment. He hired a staff with varied backgrounds and, with General Manager Adam Peters, has turned over the roster to implement his vision in Washington — his attacking-style defense, tailored to fit his personnel.
The theme of Washington’s first offseason under Quinn has been competition — a word he has used repeatedly throughout training camp. But for him and the Commanders, it’s really been about change.
“After I got done with that big cut-up of those eight years and seeing the issues that came up time and again, I studied other teams on how they would play certain things,” he said. “I was looking at different styles, different ways to go. It showed that what was once good needed more changing.”
During Quinn’s two seasons as Seattle’s coordinator, the Seahawks led the league in points and total yards allowed, won a pair of NFC championships and [defeated the most prolific offense in history](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/seattle-seahawks-defense-dominates-in-super-bowl-win-over-denver-broncos/2014/02/02/d96891d2-8c7e-11e3-95dd-36ff657a4dae_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_13) by one of the largest margins ever in a Super Bowl. A year after that 43-8 win over the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, Quinn landed his first head coaching job with the Falcons and was back in the Super Bowl two years later — with much different results.
In Atlanta, Quinn used the same defensive blueprint in his first few years: cover-three, with two cornerbacks and a safety that are each responsible for a third of the defensive backfield. While the group made progress in his early years, the system was built to play with a lead — a luxury the Falcons didn’t always have in Quinn’s latter years. The Falcons infamously [blew a 28-3 advantage](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/patriots-rally-to-beat-falcons-34-28-in-overtime-to-win-fifth-championship/2017/02/05/8d2a840c-ebe8-11e6-9973-c5efb7ccfb0d_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_14) over the Patriots in Super Bowl LI, beginning a decline that ended with Quinn’s firing less than three years later.
He could only help but wonder: What went wrong? Why was his once-dominant defense continually faltering against certain concepts? Why wasn’t it better in four-minute situations? What should he have done better? Differently? More of? Less of?
Quinn set out on a quest for answers and opened up himself to change. What worked before needed to evolve. *He* needed to evolve.
Read more here: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/09/04/dan-quinn-defense/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/09/04/dan-quinn-defense/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)
The best part of Quinn that I’ve liked is his willingness to admit failure when things didn’t work and plan out new strategies. The verdict is still out if the game has passed him by but he seems very willing to delegate and put good people around him.
A lot of this rebuild hinges on Quinn and even Kliff evolving and learning from past mistakes.
At first I wa wary of the hire but having seen what happened and what he learned from his past mistakes I am confident in this era. In the past Dan Quinn wanted too much power and tried to do too much, meddling into football ops and roster decisions. He has less power here and knows his boundaries. Seems like he and AP are getting along well, and Quinn has always had an eye for good coaches. He assembled a solid supporting cast here, I really like the direction this team is going in