Atlanta Falcons: Be Patient With Dan Quinn

After back-to-back losing seasons, the Atlanta Falcons fired head coach Mike Smith.

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Smith, who was hired back in 2008, along with the help of Matt Ryan, turned the floundering franchise that was struggling after the Michael Vick and Bobby Petrino debacle, into a Super Bowl contender.

But after the loss of the NFC Championship in 2013, the Falcons’ successful run that begun in 2008 was started to fade, and it all went downhill from there. The front office didn’t like the direction the team was going in, and decided to part ways with Mike Smith.

The Falcons replaced Smith with Dan Quinn, who was the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks during their two Super Bowl appearances.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, Quinn didn’t bring Richard Sherman, Byron Maxwell, Michael Bennett, Kam Chancellor, or Marshawn Lynch along with him.

But that’s okay. Rebuilding the Falcons into the division-winning, Super Bowl contending threat that they once were is not going to be a quick and easy fix. Atlanta’s front lines lost so much after the 2012, including Tyson Clabo (free agency, signed with Dolphins), Todd McClure (retirement) on the offensive line, and pass rushers Sean Weatherspoon (injury and free agency, Cardinals) and John Abraham (released).

That’s a lot of production to replace.

With Dan Quinn as head coach, you’re going to have to be patient with him. There might not be immediate success.

Quinn has the philosophy:

Quinn repeated an apparent mantra that he wants the Falcons to play aggressive, “fast and physical.”

That’s all fine and dandy. However, he still needs good players to fulfill his words, and the Falcons don’t exactly have any of those right now.

I’m sure Mike Smith had a perfectly fine philosophy to, but he just lost too many key players all at once. Smith didn’t rebuild in time and that ultimately led to his demise.

Quinn is a first time head coach, just like Mike Smith was. The difference was Smith had a decent defense and a good running game with Michael Turner to work with. Quinn will have the 1-2 punch of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, just like Smith did.

This will be the main challenge for Quinn. Can he add toughness back to the Falcons, and can he rebuild the trenches?

The 2015 NFL Draft is coming up. For Quinn and the Falcons, it will be three very important days, as it could determine the future of the franchise for the next few years. The Atlanta Falcons are in dire need of a pass rush, and there is a crop of pass rushers in this year’s draft, and Dan Quinn can start from there.

Quinn can also focus on continuing to to add toughness on the offensive line in the later rounds.

It might take a couple of years for the Falcons to get back to January. But hold your horses, if Coach Dan Quinn can bring toughness and physicality back inside the tackle box of the Atlanta Falcons, watch out. They could have a bright future ahead of them.

Next: Atlanta Falcons: 7 draft options if not a pass rusher

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