Dan Quinn will be worth the wait for Atlanta Falcons
By Nick Ziegler
The Atlanta Falcons are the last team in the NFL waiting to name their head coach after the feeding frenzy that occurs when spots become available. After passing on numerous other options, the Falcons have fallen in love with Seattle Seahawks’ defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
Quinn has been the Seahawks’ DC for the last two seasons, and in those two years Seattle has had the best defense in the NFL. Quinn’s greatest success in Seattle probably came in last year’s Super Bowl against the high-powered Denver Broncos’ offense led by Peyton Manning.
Going against the record-breaking Broncos’ offense, Seattle’s defense only allowed one touchdown in the 43-8 beat down.
That Super Bowl victory for the Seahawks certainly got Quinn’s name on the map for future head coaching jobs, and all this season it looked like Quinn would become a head coach somewhere, and that place will be in Atlanta.
There is certainly some distraction for Quinn going through the hiring process during a Super Bowl run, but Quinn seems to be handling it well. “The interview process allows us to go through it during the bye. I am appreciative of how the NFL does that. It is pretty easy to get right back into focus to play in this situation so it is easy to get back.”
Quinn will be inheriting a team that does have talent, but that talent is mostly on the offensive side of the ball. The Falcons do have their main pieces on offense set with a franchise QB in Matt Ryan, an elite WR in Julio Jones, and a great young left tackle in Jake Matthews.
The Falcons’ offense has not been the problem for them since Ryan was drafted, but even in their years of regular season domination, their defense has never been good. 2014 was the final straw for Mike Smith as the head coach, as after another losing season in a poor NFC South, the Falcons would fire Smith after seven seasons.
Last season the Falcons were ranked dead last in passing defense, as they allowed 279.9 YPG, which was once again the strength of Quinn’s defense in Seattle, as they allowed just 185.6 YPG.
Quinn has obviously benefitted from having the Legion of Boom as his secondary, which is something that he won’t have with the Falcons’ secondary, who have one good player in Desmond Trufant. Trufant is certainly an up-and-coming cornerback in the NFL, but will be a noticeably drop off from the great Richard Sherman.
Even though Quinn is waiting until the Super Bowl is over to officially, the Falcons are starting to build his staff. One of Quinn’s former players Raheem Morris will be leaving the Washington Redskins to become the Falcons’ assistant head coach, and the director of passing defense.
Morris is also helping recruit the Redskins’ offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan to join the Falcons with the same job. With Quinn becoming a first-year head coach that is defensive-minded, he will need a strong OC next to him to help keep the Falcons’ offense explosive.
The new era in Atlanta will be starting on February 2nd with Quinn leading the way.