3 things to know about Washington coach Dan Quinn

On By Littum

The Washington’s commandersThe Detroit Lions’ opponent in the divisional round, upended expectations by a massive margin and is now playing with house money.

Washington beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round on the road with a game-winning field goal as time expired to continue their magical season. Within the year, Washington was far from a consensus on playoff conditions and had an overall win of 6.5which they have doubled with their win in the first round.

In addition to striking gold with No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels at quarterback, the Commanders’ new management led by new owner Josh Harris also hit their front office and coaching hires. First-year general manager Adam Peters is one of the frontrunners for Executive of the Year, and coach Dan Quinn has pushed all the right buttons in terms of coordinators and game management to get Washington to 13 wins.

The Commanders hired Quinn after Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson opted to return to Detroit after being considered a front-runner. Four days after Johnson confirmed a return to Lionsthe Commanders hired Quinn, who previously worked as the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator.

Here are three things to know about Quinn and his short time in the nation’s capital.

Dan Quinn NFL background

This is Quinn’s second time as head coach. He led the Atlanta Falcons from 2015-20 and reached Super Bowl 51. His team had a 25-point lead in the second half, but ended up blowing it and losing in overtime. Under Quinn, the Falcons went 43-42 before he was fired in 2020 for an 0-5 start.

He got the opportunity in Atlanta after spending his career climbing the ladder as a defensive assistant. He started as a defensive quality control assistant for the San Francisco 49ers in 2001 and eventually climbed to defensive line coach in 2003. He remained a defensive line coach for the 49ers, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks until 2010.

He briefly jumped to the college ranks to serve as Florida’s defensive coordinator before being hired by Seattle again in 2013 to lead the defense. While in Seattle, he oversaw the iconic “Legion of Boom” defense that led the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl in 2014. After two years leading the defense, he got the opportunity with Atlanta.

After the first coaching stint ended, he joined the Dallas Cowboys for three seasons before being hired by Washington.

Commanders’ Defense Improvements

A big reason Washington had the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft was that they had the league’s worst defense combined with not having a true starting quarterback option.

Daniels answered one problem and Quinn helped improve the other. After ranking dead last in points and yards allowed in 2023, the Commanders now have the 18th-ranked scoring defense (23.0 points allowed per game) and rank 13th in total defense (326.9 yards allowed per game).

In addition to the overall philosophical shift, Quinn and Peters added players he was familiar with like Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler Jr., who played for him in Dallas, and other contributors like linebackers Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu. In the draft, they added a starter in the draft in nickel corner and Michigan alumni Mike Sainristil and a rotational defensive tackle in Jer’Zhan Newton in the second round.

Gamblin’ Dan, the DC version

In addition to sharing a given name, the Lions and Commanders’ coaches also share an aggression in game management.

During the regular season, the Commanders went after it on fourth down 23 times and had a wildly successful conversion rate of 87% with 20 conversions. That number ranked 17th in the regular season and paled in comparison to Detroit’s 33 fourth down attempts (fourth most).

But on Sunday, the Commanders only kept the offense on the field. Washington didn’t hit once against Tampa. They went for it on fourth down five times with three successful conversions, including a touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin to take a 20-17 lead into the fourth quarter.

Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for Detroit Free Press. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22and email him at [email protected].