Quinn, 53, replaces Ron Rivera, whom the Commanders fired after 4 seasons as their coach and de facto head of soccer operations.
Alongside Common Supervisor Adam Peters, who was employed in January, and a brand new possession group led by Josh Harris, Quinn will assist lead a rebuild. It is going to be a major enterprise, however the clean canvas is a part of the attraction; the Commanders have 5 draft picks within the first three rounds, together with the No. 2 choice, and loads of wage cap area to retool the roster.
Quinn’s rent comes two days after Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who was a high candidate for the Washington job, knowledgeable the Commanders and Seattle Seahawks — the 2 groups that had been, at that time, nonetheless in want of a head coach — that he would stay in Detroit, two individuals with data of his resolution stated.
“We’re in search of the perfect chief for this workforce,” Peters stated throughout his introductory information convention in January. “… We now have set standards that we’re going to have it’s aligned in that imaginative and prescient. And it’s not going to be in a field. It’s not going to be [set on] offense, it’s not going to [set on] be protection. It’s going to be the perfect chief for this group.”
Washington’s seek for a brand new coach — led by Harris and Peters, with assist from consultants Bob Myers and Rick Spielman, in addition to among the workforce’s restricted companions — included interviews with six further candidates: Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, Ravens assistant head coach and line of defense coach Anthony Weaver, Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, former Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Slowik signed a brand new deal to remain in Houston. The Atlanta Falcons employed Morris, and the Seahawks employed Macdonald.
Quinn interviewed nearly with the Commanders on Jan. 18, then flew to the D.C. space to interview with them once more the morning of Jan. 30. He left that afternoon with out a contract in hand, however as vacancies continued to fill throughout the league, his résumé stood out.
Quinn boasts 21 years of NFL teaching expertise, beginning as a top quality management coach with the San Francisco 49ers in 2001. After two seasons, he was promoted to be their line of defense coach, then moved on to the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks in the identical function. (He added the title of assistant head coach in Seattle.) Quinn then spent two seasons because the College of Florida’s defensive coordinator earlier than returning to the Seahawks as their defensive coordinator in 2013.
There, Quinn led Seattle’s famed “Legion of Growth” protection, serving to the Seahawks to back-to-back Tremendous Bowl appearances. They received the primary handily over the Denver Broncos, then misplaced the second to the New England Patriots.
Quinn turned the Falcons’ head coach in 2015 and led the workforce to the Tremendous Bowl in his second season. Regardless of main 28-3 within the third quarter, the Falcons misplaced to the Patriots in time beyond regulation.
The Falcons fired Quinn early within the 2020 season, and he turned the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator in 2021. Dallas’s protection, which ranked twenty eighth in scoring and thirty first in opposition to the run in 2020, improved to rank seventh and sixteenth, respectively, and led the league with 34 takeaways in Quinn’s first season. He was honored because the Related Press’s assistant coach of the 12 months.
“I believe he does an amazing job of discovering methods so that you can love the sport and discovering methods to go across the recreation,” Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons stated in January. “It doesn’t at all times must be hard-nosed and ‘I’m the coach.’ I believe it’s extra of a friendship. We undergo what I don’t like, what I do like. He doesn’t simply deal with me like a participant; he treats me virtually like a good friend. He’s at all times there for me after I want him, and we’re not afraid to have these laborious conversations, whether or not it’s father to son or participant to teach. We now have them it doesn’t matter what.”
Quinn interviewed for a number of head-coaching vacancies the previous two hiring cycles however opted to stay in Dallas. In 2023, the Cowboys completed fifth in complete yards, passing yards and factors allowed (they held opponents to twenty factors or fewer in 11 of their 17 video games), and appeared poised for a deep playoff run. However they fell to the Inexperienced Bay Packers, 48-32, within the first spherical.
Quinn’s experience shall be very important in remaking the Commanders’ protection, which turned a legal responsibility final season with a lackluster cross rush and leaky secondary.
His selection of offensive coordinator could possibly be one of the vital essential components within the trajectory of the workforce’s future. Bieniemy has one other 12 months left on his contract, however after a 4-13 end, the workforce could also be due for a recent begin.
For years, Washington has sorely wanted an infusion of creativity in its offensive play-calling, however greater than something, it wants stability at quarterback after churning by means of 14 starters previously 10 seasons.
Quinn has deep ties to many potential coordinators throughout the league. One candidate could possibly be Klint Kubiak, the San Francisco 49ers’ passing recreation coordinator and the son of longtime coach Gary Kubiak. Quinn had success with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator in Atlanta, and Peters is aware of Klint Kubiak from his time in San Francisco and Denver.
On the defensive aspect, Quinn will most likely name performs, however that’s not a certainty; he solely known as performs a part of the time he was the top coach in Atlanta. Potential prospects for Washington’s defensive coordinator emptiness embrace Joe Whitt Jr., the Cowboys’ secondary coach and passing recreation coordinator, and Joe Cullen, the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ line of defense coach. (Per NFL guidelines, Washington is prohibited from interviewing assistant coaches taking part within the Tremendous Bowl till after the postseason, and it should interview at the very least two exterior candidates who’re minorities or girls for coordinator roles.)
