Dan Quinn was recently announced as the new Head Coach of the Atlanta Falcons. For much of Dan Quinn’s coaching career, he has been overlooked and may have not have gotten all the credit he deserved. He started coaching at William and Mary in 1994 as a defensive line coach. After several other small college coaching jobs, he made the jump to the NFL in 2001. After 10 years as a defensive line coach in the NFL, Quinn was hired by Will Muschamp to take control of the Florida Gators defense. He served as the defensive coordinator for the Gators for two years. During his tenure at Florida, the Gators’ defense was near the top of the NCAA. In 2012, the defense only allowed 14.5 point per game, which was fifth overall in the country. It was well known in Gainesville that the defense was the strong point of the team, but for some reason Dan did not receive much credit for it. It was always assumed the reason the defense was so good was because the head coach was the great defensive mind himself, Will Muschamp. In 2013, Quinn headed back to the NFL taking the Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator position. The 2013 Seattle Seahawks defense might go down as one of the best of all time. They led the league in defense while also forcing the most turnovers in the league on their way to their first Super Bowl. In 2014, the Seattle Seahawks defense under Quinn led the league in defense again. While Quinn finally became a hot head coaching commodity, he was still overshadowed by Pete Carroll. One team decided to take their chances on Dan Quinn to lead their team as the head coach and that team is the Atlanta Falcons.
Quinn was signed on Febuary 2nd, 2015 to a five year deal. So what should we expect this year from Dan Quinn? I believe Quinn should get most of the credit for the great defenses he has coached. The defense will switch from the 3-4 to a 4-3. Basing it off his previous jobs, I expect Quinn to bring a sort of physicality to the Falcons that they definitely need. Quinn has stated to Falcons fans that he wants to bring “fast and physical” football brand to this organization in desperate need of speed and physicality. Even though Quinn inherited incredible players in Seattle, he made sure they were the best defense in both years he ran them. Quinn is one of the few NFL head coaches to have the final say over the 53-man roster. Expect the Falcons to keep their key offensive players in place, but for them to start a defense first drafting strategy. With all things considered, I believe the Falcons made a great hire here and the future looks bright with Quinn at the helm.
What do think of this hire Falcon fans?
I love the intensity that Quinn brings. I think he’s really going to spark some excitement in the locker room start now in the offseason.