The Falcons are going through a rocky moment in the Arthur Smit era after benching Desmond Ridder in favor of Taylor Heinicke. Smith took over for Dan Quinn, who ultimately failed to overcome his own shortcomings but landed on his feet in Dallas with the Cowboys as their defensive coordinator.
The former Falcons head coach has thrived under Mike McCarthy. As a coordinator, his player-coach persona resonates more consistently than as a head coach. The results rarely fall on him, and he can constantly go to bat for his players without the responsibility of answering to the media, but that might not be the case for long.
Quinn has been a hot head coaching candidate since arriving in Dallas. He’s yet to seriously consider any of the openings, but that might be coming to an end this cycle. There are sure to be openings, like there is every offseason, and the Raiders have already been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Atlanta’s former head coach.
Quinn’s six-year tenure as the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach will be most remembered for blowing a 28-3 lead to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI. What’s often forgotten is that Quinn was good enough at his job to, well, coach a team to the Super Bowl. And since he became the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator in 2021, he has been nothing but successful. The Cowboys finished seventh in scoring defense in 2021, improved to fifth in 2022 and are fourth this season.
Several teams have interviewed Quinn, 53, for head-coaching roles since he’s been with the Cowboys, but he has stayed put. If the Raiders could convince him to leave Dallas, he’d be a sound hire.
I seriously doubt the opening in Las Vegas is the one to pry Dan Quinn out of Dallas. There’s nothing about the Raiders organization that should attract him.
The owner is reckless and reactionary; the front office has proven incapable of building a competitive roster. The only thing it has going for it is the brand new stadium.
Mark Davis has the money to put a great product on the field, but he constantly thinks he’s smarter than he actually is. I don’t hate the decision to fire Josh McDaniels, but I did hate the hire in the first place.
That alone should tell Dan Quinn all he needs to know. The former Falcons head coach got too long of a leash in Atlanta with Arthur Blank as owner, but that wouldn’t be the case in Vegas with Davis. I think that would be most important to Quinn — stability at the ownership level.
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