Commanders’ Dan Quinn credits Cowboys stint, ‘super important’ Micah Parsons as reasons for second HC job

Some people never get a second chance at being an NFL head coach after being fired from their first opportunity. New Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn became of one of those select few to get another chance. He went 43-42 in six seasons as the Atlanta Falcons head coach with the high-water mark being an appearance in Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots to conclude the 2016 season. Quinn’s Falcons notoriously blew a 28-3 in a 34-28 overtime defeat. 

A Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks prior to his first head-coaching tenure, Quinn gained, in his words, valuable experience by returning to the role of defensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys in 2021. In his three seasons in Dallas, the Cowboys led the NFL in takeaways (93), interceptions (59), defensive touchdowns (15), quarterback pressure rate (41.4%) while ranking fifth in scoring defense (19.9 points per game allowed). Quinn shifted his defense from a Cover 3-based zone scheme with the “Legion of Boom” and during his team in Atlanta to running man coverage at the third-highest rate in the NFL (34.2%) with the Cowboys the last three years. 

“Yeah, I think it was an absolutely awesome experience for me and for a number of reasons,” Quinn said Tuesday, via transcript, at the NFL Combine when asked about what he learned by being McCarthy’s defensive coordinator the last three seasons. “One, from a defensive standpoint to go in and say these were changes I had to make. So it was almost like a microcosm of the changes I had to make, I started on the defensive side, I started on those things that I could do better. And so I took a shot at doing that.”

Coaching under a second Super Bowl-winning head coach after coming up just short of the Vince Lombardi himself as an NFL HC, Quinn appreciated the little things about Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy’s approach.

“Certainly, from…

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Author : Garrett Podell

Publish date : 2024-02-29 00:09:44

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