FRISCO, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys have just landed their greatest offseason victory: Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has informed teams he is staying in Dallas for the 2022 season, according to multiple reports.
Quinn interviewed with the Bears, Broncos, Vikings and Giants for their head coaching vacancies. He garnered attention around the league after transforming the Cowboys’ defense in his first year. Quinn inherited a defense that surrendered a franchise-worst 473 points in 2020 but improved the unit to seventh in the league in points per game (21.1) and led the league in takeaways (34) in 2021. A turnaround that deserves esteemed recognition.
His hands-on and detail-oriented approach maximized the talent of the players under his instruction. Players were tailored to fit Quinn’s 4-3, hybrid sub-package system that allowed them to penetrate/attack. Dallas was expected to have a serviceable defense in 2021, but instead, the squad became one of the most formidable in the league.
Quinn built the defense and pressure packages around rookie sensation, Micah Parsons. His use of the hybrid linebacker/defensive end helped Parsons become an All-Pro and Pro Bowl player in his first year.
“I think Q [Dan Quinn] just found a way to touch everybody in our defensive room’s heart,” Parsons described after the team’s Wild Card loss to the 49ers. “I think he found a way for all of us to want to fight for him, play for him. Some things are just more than football and I think that’s what Q represents. It’s never just football with Q. I think if he could, and he was 30 years younger, he would throw some pads on and fight with us every day of the week. I think that’s always special; he was a hands-on coach. He made sure you really understood everything that was going on. He didn’t let nothing go without being understood so I think that’s what Q did to us.”
Before arriving in Dallas, Quinn was the head coach of the Falcons from 2015-20. He led Atlanta to the Super Bowl in 2016 and accumulated a 43-42 regular-season record. He was fired midway through the 2020 season. Prior to his stint with the Falcons, Quinn guided the Seahawks to consecutive Super Bowl appearances as the defensive coordinator and was responsible for reinstating the famed ‘legion of boom’ status.
During his sabbatical after being released, Quinn spent time away from the game assessing his scheme and asking himself, ‘does what I do still work?’ With the evolution of offenses in the modern-era, Quinn instituted changes. Instead of predominately utilizing a four-man rush with Cover 3 on the back end, he created a multiple look front with a variety of coverages in the secondary (installed more man concepts). His willingness to self-reflect and evaluate paid dividends. Quinn told local media earlier in the season that being in Dallas had recaptured his love of the game and his love of coaching after the hardship 2020 presented. He returns for a Super Bowl run in 2022.
