The Falcons passed over Raheem Morris in favor of Arthur Smith three years ago, but the time he spent in Los Angeles under Sean McVay clearly impacted his candidacy.
Morris credits McVay, Les Snead and a lot of other Rams personnel for the growth he experienced, which obviously convinced Arthur Blank he was the right man for the job three years later.
In a similar vein, during that hiring cycle, the Falcons were moving from Dan Quinn, who spent three years as a coordinator before landing a head coaching gig.
Following a midseason termination in 2020, Quinn joined the Cowboys as their defensive coordinator, leading several top 10 units during his time in Dallas. He was hired within the division by the newly owned Commanders, and there’s something different about his approach to the job in 2024 compared to his time in Atlanta.
“That’s one of the lessons to take on, to say man, I’ve got to make sure after doing the 360 of leaving Atlanta, of spreading myself too thin,” Quinn said on how to balance himself across all three units, via Sports Illustrated. “And so, where I need to be is right there with the offense, right there with the defense and the special teams and not allow outside things in the organization, just more things to do.”
Dan Quinn got his first big break in Seattle, coordinating the Legion of Boom before being hired by the Falcons, where he also coordinated the defense. However, he eventually relinquished those duties in 2019. Quinn believes he’s learned from those mistakes.
“You don’t want to just rinse and repeat,” Quinn said. “You want to make sure how do I take this, change it and then make sure you get to prove it again. And so that was the silver lining in this.”
Now, he gets a chance to once again lead his own team. The Commanders have a decent roster, the No. 2 overall pick, and a mountain of cap space. It should give Wahsington’s front office plenty of resources to give Quinn a competitive team. The former Falcons head coach says he’s better now than when he was in Atlanta; he’s eager to prove it.
“I’m a better version of me today than I was three and four or five years ago, and so that’s why I get to prove that.”
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