Guerry Clegg: Getting to know Dan Quinn
Everything is pointing to the Atlanta Falcons naming Dan Quinn their new head coach once he completes a prior engagement. Something about having made Super Bowl plans. But surely that's all the Falcons are waiting on. I mean, they're already rebuilding the coaching staff, hiring Kyle Shanahan as offensive coordinator and retaining assistants Bryan Cox and Keith Armstrong. Who would be so inept as to build a staff before hiring the head
OK, so maybe it's not a done deal.
But supposing it is, it seems like a good time to get to know Quinn, the Seattle Seahawks' defensive coordinator.
So who is Dan Quinn any way? Well, since flying to Seattle is out of the question, and he's not about to return a phone call about a job he can't officially accept until after the Super Bowl, we turn to the internet archives to get a glimpse of the man who will try to lead the Falcons back to the playoffs. The Seattle Times and The Herald of Everett, Washington in particular wrote two good pieces.
And here's what we learned.
He's a lifelong student of the game. He knew growing up in Morristown, N.J. that he wanted to be a football coach. He played defensive end at Salisbury State, a Division III school in Maryland, and was a two-time team captain. Then he embarked on fulfilling his dream of being a coach, with one-year stops at William & Mary and Virginia Military before finding a home at Hofstra.
Who knows? Maybe Quinn would have become one of those small college legends. Not that Hofstra is tiny. It's Division I, but hardly big-time. But he made an impression on Lance Schulters, a safety who went on to play for the San Francisco 49ers. And that, according to the Times article, was the break he needed. Schulters recommended Quinn to his defensive coordinator, who just so happened to be Jim Mora Jr. -- yeah, the former Falcons head coach -- who in turn recommended Quinn to head coach Steve Mariucci.
"Just a one-in-a-million chance," Quinn told the Times. "I wore Jim Mora out enough that he said, 'Let's bring this guy in.' "
He would later hook up with Mora again in Seattle. But to call him a Jim Mora disciple would be an overstatement. He's a disciple of no one but a student of Mora, Nick Saban, Will Muschamp, Eric Mangini and Pete Carroll.
His next big break came when Muschamp hired him at Florida as defensive coordinator. That's the first time he called plays since he left Hofstra. You might think with all of that knowledge that Quinn's defenses are complex. Quite the opposite. Apparently what makes him appealing to his players is the simplicity of his schemes.
"We've got two to three base defenses, pretty much, and we run that all game,'' Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright told the Times. "And then we've got about four nickel defenses. So it's simple, man. And that allows us to play fast.''
The Seahawks' defense
plays so fast it seems like they have too many men on the field.
But they do something completely unfamiliar to Falcons fans, something Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said was the key to stopping Oregon in the College Football Playoff national championship game.
They tackle.
"The scheme part of it is important," Quinn told the Times. "But I guess I learned in my time what's just as important is the players in terms of you really want the best fundamentals you can have. It's tackling.
"It's all the discipline things that go into football. So we want our guys attacking in that way as much as we can."
When the Falcons eliminated Seattle from the playoffs two years ago, Gus Bradley left the Seahawks to become Jacksonville's head coach. Carroll immediately went after Quinn and brought him back.
The Seahawks already had the NFL's best defense. Under Quinn, it got even better.
They set franchise records for points (14.4) and yards (273.6) allowed. Injuries in the first half of the season kept them from duplicating those numbers.
But the Seahawks still led the league in fewest points and yards allowed.
Another good piece on Quinn was written by The Herald of Everett, Wash.
Several teams were interest in hiring Quinn. Carroll gave a solid endorsement:
"Dan has tremendous character. He has great leadership qualities, he is an excellent communicator, he's had great experiences behind him, he has worked with a lot of people who have influenced him and helped him along the way, and he remembers them all.
"He's got a competitive nature that I think he conveys -- look at what he's done to our guys.
"He has been a fantastic guy on this staff; he works well with people at this level.
"The players totally believe him and can communicate and understand what he wants--he conveys the message. He's a baller, I don't think he'll have any problem, I think it's going to be a great step for him when the time comes."
That time can't come soon enough to suit the Falcons.
-- Guerry Clegg is an independent correspondent. You can write to him at sports@ledger-enquirer.com
This story was originally published January 20, 2015 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Guerry Clegg: Getting to know Dan Quinn."