DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys’ offseason began last week. After their elimination from the playoffs, the organization was forced to go into review mode and decide on what they needed to do to improve for the 2021 season.
That process has already begun and the Cowboys are moving quickly to ensure they have the best coaching staff possible. The first move was to replace defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, who oversaw one of the worst defensive teams in franchise history. Nolan’s departure left a void to oversee a unit that is in drastic need of help.
Dallas had already taken a look at a few options to take over the defense, but the biggest name to interview was former Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn.
After a couple of rounds of telephone interviews, and after flying to Dallas to speak about the job, Quinn has reportedly been tabbed to take over the vacant defensive coordinator job – a gig he held with the Seattle Seahawks for two years.
While Quinn wasn’t considered one of the better head coaches in football while with the Falcons, he did lead the team to a Super Bowl appearance and had a winning record (43-42) overall in five full seasons at the helm before he was fired after Week 5 in 2020.
Quinn’s resume as a coordinator with the Seahawks presents a prettier picture, however.
During his two year stint with the Seahawks, he won a Super Bowl in his first year on the job in 2013 and saw his defense end up in the big game again the next year. During the championship season in Seattle, the Seahawks gave up the fewest yards and points allowed in the NFL, while leading the league in takeaways. If the Cowboys want to create more turnovers, Quinn should be able to help.
It was also under Quinn where the legendary ‘Legion of Boom’ secondary came about in Seattle. It was a group that helped the Seahawks’ defense become one of the most fearsome units in the NFL over the last 20 years.
Of course it helps that Quinn had an All-Pro cornerback in Richard Sherman, as well as All-Pro safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. Throw in perennial All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner and Quinn did have some considerable talent to work with in Seattle.
Can he do the same work with a secondary, and defense, that doesn’t have the same quality? Quinn didn’t coach the defense for the Falcons, but they were in the middle of the pack in most defensive categories during his five and a half year tenure in Atlanta.
Quinn was the favorite to become the next defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, and, now that it appears that he’s landed the job, he has a lot of work to do.
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