Quinn tries to regain boom times on defense
DALLAS — The words from agents whose clients are impacted by the hire of Dan Quinn as the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator were effusive on Monday evening.
“Legit,” said one agent. “Top hire, game changer,” another agent said.
“Great guy,” a prominent agent remarked.
The Cowboys announced Monday that Quinn, the former Atlanta Falcons coach, will replace Mike Nolan. The big question is which Dan Quinn are the Cowboys getting.
The Cowboys need the Dan Quinn who was the defensive coordinator in Seattle, where that defense, nicknamed the “Legion of Boom,” dominated the NFL in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. His defenses finished No. 1 in fewest points and total yards allowed in those seasons, which resulted in Super Bowl appearances. In 2013, the year Seattle won a Super Bowl, the Seahawks led the NFL in takeaways. The following year, Quinn’s defense finished fourth in takeaways.
Quinn replaced Gus Bradley, who helped form the defense with head coach Pete Carroll. Bradley turned his success into a head coaching job with Jacksonville.
Quinn did the same in becoming the head coach with the Falcons.
The success Quinn had with Seattle was elusive in his next job. He needs to find that success again with Dallas.
In six seasons in Atlanta, Quinn employed four defensive coordinators, with the best performance coming in the 2017 season when the Falcons finished ninth in yards allowed and eighth in points allowed.
In the 2016 Super Bowl year, Quinn replaced defensive coordinator Richard Smith. Yes, the Falcons reached the Super Bowl, but it was Quinn calling the defensive signals in that second-half collapse to the Patriots, when the Fal
cons blew a 28-3 lead. After that 34-28 loss, Quinn’s teams never recovered, and after a 0-5 start in 2020, he was fired.
It seems Quinn was seeking the success obtained in Seattle.
Part of making things work with any scheme is finding players. In Seattle, Quinn had players to fit the scheme, which proved difficult to replicate in Atlanta.
The Cowboys received much criticism for bypassing on Wis
consin outside linebacker T.J. Watt in the 2017 draft, a three-time Pro Bowler who was selected 30th by Pittsburgh. Dallas picked defensive end Taco Charlton at No. 28. Quinn and the Falcons’ front office took heat, too, for snagging UCLA defensive end Takkarist McKinley at No. 26.
Quinn also had to deal with injuries to key defensive players and just couldn’t find playmaking safeties like he employed with Se
attle in Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor.
And when it comes to the scheme Quinn is expected to run, well, it’s something the Cowboys tried to use for a couple of years under Kris Richard, a man who replaced Quinn as defensive coordinator in Seattle.
Dallas should go back to a 4-3 scheme with active pass rushers rotating in and allowing a safety to roam and dominate the run and pass game. You need strong corners who play man-to-man and linebackers who attack ball carriers.
Nolan’s complex 3-4 scheme is probably gone. He struggled with communication. Part of the reason was the virtual world the NFL entered because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The communication improved over the season, but it seemed too late.
“I mean, just to summarize 2020, we went through some tough battles at the beginning of the season,” defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said last week. “Not me personally with Coach, but I’m just saying in general as a defense. We went through some tough battles, and when you’re playing with young guys on the defense, we have to take into consideration that some things that are easy for me won’t be easy for the next person.”
Quinn is a good communicator, and that’s half the battle with putting in any new scheme. It would seem Lawrence would thrive under this scheme, where he can probably go back to a three-point stance full time instead of switching from a two-point stance.
The linebackers, Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch, should return to attacking players over reading and reacting. The secondary has promise with safety Donovan Wilson (two interceptions and two forced fumbles) and cornerback Trevon Diggs (three interceptions) but not much else.
Quinn comes with questions after his years in Atlanta and running a scheme in Seattle that was started by someone else.
Most who know him believe he’s a good coach who needs the personnel to help him. You can say that about most, if not all, coaches.
For 2021, after the Nolan failure, coach Mike Mccarthy can’t have another difficult year with his defense.
Quinn is being given the chance to solve the defensive woes of 2020. If he can’t, we might be talking about this again next year.