For more than two decades, Dan Snyder made splashy coaching hires that excited the fan base.
For more than two decades, that strategy did not work.
Embarking on a new era in Washington, new Commanders owner Josh Harris deployed a different strategy with his first head coaching hire. Harris assembled a talented team to help him navigate the process, and the early returns were quite promising. Washington announced the addition of new general manager Adam Peters in early January, who was widely considered the best GM candidate in the NFL.
A few weeks later - perhaps a grueling amount of time for some fans - the Commanders landed on Dan Quinn as their new head coach, the team officially confirmed on Sunday. For all the excitement that Peters’ arrival brought, Quinn’s is much more muted.
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There is plenty to like about Quinn. He has a sterling reputation around the league as a motivator, communicator and for being very organized.
Over the last three seasons as defensive coordinator for the Cowboys (the damn Cowboys!) Quinn led an elite defense. The Cowboys defense ranked among the Top 10 in points allowed each of the last three years and generated 93 takeaways during that span. Washington had 55 takeaways in the last three years.
Perhaps more importantly, players love Quinn.
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Quinn’s work in Dallas has been particularly impressive because of the development apparent with that Cowboys defense.
Parsons blossomed under Quinn, as the coordinator did not view the linebacker as a “tweener” — the label that saw him slip a bit in the draft — but rather an opportunity. If Parsons’ rare blend of size and athleticism means he can play all over the field, Quinn leaned into that, rather than the archaic method some coaches deploy of forcing round peg into square hole. In the secondary, Daron Bland went from backup to All Pro.
Player growth like that will be welcomed in Washington, where, frankly, there hasn’t been much.
There are things to like about Quinn, even if he’s probably most famous for being the Atlanta head coach that blew a 28-3 third quarter lead in Super Bowl LI.
That 34-28 comeback win gave a tremendous boost to Tom Brady’s lore and the Patriots mystique, but in many ways ruined Quinn’s coaching stint with the Falcons, where he was fired a few seasons later after starting 0-5. Overall, Quinn went 43-42 with the Falcons with two playoff berths and the Super Bowl appearance, but after the departure of then offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan following the infamous 28-3 loss, things hit the skids.
And that’s a fair concern in Washington.
Hiring Quinn means another defensive focused coach, just like his predecessor in Ron Rivera. It means that if an offensive coordinator comes to Washington and succeeds, losing that coordinator to a head coaching opportunity is a real possibility. Washington fans already know all about losing offensive coaching talent to other head coaching positions.
Perhaps talking about losing offensive coaches is putting the cart before the horse in D.C. This organization hasn’t won a playoff game in more than a decade and hasn’t won more than 10 games since the Bush administration. The first Bush administration, not George W. Bush.
What’s certainly real, however, is with the No. 2 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, the head coach will not be the quarterback whisperer that many hoped.
That would have been Ben Johnson, the Lions offensive coordinator that Washington pursued but did not land. Detroit’s offense was impressive all season, and Johnson elected to stay in the Motor City. Officially Johnson said he wants the chance to chase a Super Bowl win in Detroit, which makes sense after a tough NFC Championship game loss to the Niners.
Other rumors and reports suggest a different outcome, that Johnson wanted too much money or that the interviews didn’t go well with Harris. It’s hard to think that the new Commanders brass, fresh off landing Peters and armed with multiple billions of dollars, could not have worked things out with Johnson if the interviews went great, but the truth is probably out there somewhere.
Regardless of the reason, Johnson is staying in Detroit and Quinn is headed to D.C.
For plenty of fans, that’s disappointing. It may prove to be true that without a play-caller to connect with a rookie QB, this offense never gets off the ground.
But the opposite could also happen.
While hiring a hot young play-calling offensive coordinator has been a strong trend in the NFL for a long time, it doesn’t always work here. Twice in Washington’s recent history the organization went in that direction, and neither Jay Gruden nor Norm Turner found much success in their time coaching the Burgundy and Gold.
Quinn is not a sexy hire. Johnson would have been. But this is not a Hollywood blockbuster film that needs glitz and glamour to sell. It’s a football team with a leadership void that Harris and Peters clearly believe Quinn can fill.
It’s not like Peters isn’t aware of the push among many for offensive coaches ahead of defensive coaches. He’s aware. He just doesn’t care.
“We’re looking for the best leader for this team, for the Washington Commanders,” Peters said when he was hired. “It’s not going to be in a box. It’s not going to be offense, it’s not going to be defense. It’s going to be the best leader for this organization.”
League sources have described Quinn as just that — a true leader.
It remains to be seen if Quinn’s leadership is the salve to fix a broken Commanders team. In two separate stints as a defensive coordinator, first in Seattle and more recently in Dallas, Quinn has found great success. As a head coach, it went well, at times.
That Super Bowl loss still haunts Quinn, and Shanahan too. The game was played seven years ago in a world that now seems almost foreign. Nobody had heard of Covid and Taylor Swift did not dominate NFL headlines. And yet, whenever Quinn’s name was brought up for another head coaching opportunity after his exit from Atlanta, 28-3 gets mentioned, just like it does for Shanahan before big games.
While Shanahan gets another opportunity to change that narrative next week when his 49ers take on the Chiefs in Vegas for a Super Bowl rematch, Quinn has just had to wear it. Shanahan’s success in San Francisco certainly doesn’t help the thought that it was his offense that propelled Atlanta’s success under Quinn either.
Washington gives Quinn an opportunity to change his narrative.
This Commanders team is almost like a blank canvas. There’s more than $70 million in cap space, the No. 2 overall pick, three picks in the Top 40 and five in the Top 100.
Peters is in charge of finding the players, and there’s real reason to believe he will do just that. Quinn’s job is to coach them, to lead them, and dozens and dozens of people around the NFL say he’s the right person for the job.
Quinn is a safe hire. It’s not going to cause a spike in season ticket sales. But guess what could? Winning ball games.
If Quinn proves to be the coach to finally win in Washington, nobody will care or even remember the ordeal that landed him with the Commanders.
