In new opportunity with Commanders and Jayden Daniels, Dan Quinn is checking his blind spots

ASHBURN, Va. — Dan Quinn exited his office and turned left.

The Washington Commanders head coach walked the increasingly well-worn path toward the office of general manager Adam Peters.

The short walk toward his partner-in-crime, as they aim to return a franchise back to its winning days on and off the field.

But as Quinn glanced toward the door nearing on his left, he thought to himself: Do I really need to ask this question? Does he really need this reminder?

No.

“So I didn’t even walk in,” Quinn told Yahoo Sports during a recent visit. “I started walking down the hallway and I just U-turned and came back.

“I was going there and I was like, ‘No, he’s got that.’ … I don’t want to micromanage everything.”

Quinn instead is focusing on checking his blind spots.

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He knows how to be a head coach after five-plus seasons at the helm for the Atlanta Falcons from 2015-20. Quinn knows, too, how to call a defense, from his Super Bowl-winning Legion of Boom days in Seattle to his more recent takeaway-leading era as Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator.

Quinn thinks back to the schematic deep dive he confronted after the Falcons fired him, his realization that he needed to adapt his vision defense to handle more multiple, spread-out offenses. He thinks back to his reflection on what he wanted to change most if the five words he kept telling himself – “if I get another shot” – ever materialized: improving his delegations.

As he takes over the Commanders, Quinn accepts that doing less in some areas allows him to think more in others. His job is not to call defenses or lead every drill; it’s to establish a culture and make informed decisions.

“The essence of a head coach is to put it all together,” Quinn said at his introductory news conference in February. “It’s the chemistry, it’s the messaging, it’s the play style. It’s the attitude. It’s the swagger.

“The essence of this job [is]…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/in-new-opportunity-with-commanders-and-jayden-daniels-dan-quinn-is-checking-his-blind-spots-220537686.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-06-25 22:05:37

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