‘He found his voice’: How Dan Quinn reinvented himself and made the Commanders contenders

ASHBURN, Va. — Dan Quinn knew what would happen.

It was Oct. 11, 2020, and Quinn, then the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, was driving to the home of team owner Arthur Blank.

He had never been summoned to Blank’s house after a game. But hours earlier, Quinn’s Falcons, in a make-or-break season for the sixth-year coach, had lost their fifth straight game to open the season, falling 23-16 at home to the Carolina Panthers.

As he drove to meet with his boss, Quinn called his wife, Stacey, to let her know what was probably coming. Once he arrived, Blank made it official and fired Quinn, who had amassed a 43-42 record in Atlanta.

Blank’s words stung. In the immediate moment, Quinn said he was angry — not at Blank, but at himself. Once he got back to his car, he called Stacey; they talked, they cried and talked some more.

“It sucked so bad,” said Quinn, now in his first season as head coach of the Washington Commanders. “I definitely was mad and depressed and upset. I affected all of those players, their families, the coaches, their families, the fan base when I didn’t get the job done.”

Days later, Quinn and his wife traveled to their seaside house in Oahu, Hawaii. The state’s strict COVID-19 guidelines mandated them to quarantine for 14 days.

While locked inside, Quinn began a transformation that has, four years later, helped Washington (7-3) get off to its best start in more than two decades ahead of Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video). Motivated by his Falcons firing, Quinn embarked on a journey of self-examination and growth in hopes of ensuring that if he got a second chance to coach an NFL team, it would go better than the first.

To pursue that end, Quinn underwent an extensive self-review to identify areas he needed to improve, such as delegating responsibility, better developing his staff and having a succession plan in place when key assistants leave for other jobs. He spoke to basketball coaches and took from them, among other things, strategies to grow the skill sets of his players. And, after watching hours of film and talking to other NFL coaches, he revamped the defensive scheme through which he’d previously made his name as a defensive coordinator.

Quinn’s thirst for knowledge is nothing new. The firing in Atlanta simply accelerated the process, setting the stage for his surprising second act in Washington.

“I wouldn’t have changed as much,” Quinn said of his in-season exit in Atlanta that allowed him the time for self-reflection. “I wouldn’t have been able to apply the same lessons. So, for that, I’m thankful.”

In the end, it turned out to be a gift.

“At the time, it wasn’t,” he said. “But then now I realize that’s exactly what it was. Everybody has their dark spots and that was mine. But I wanted to make sure I came out of it stronger and that this is going to change.”

---

The game Quinn is most known for during his Atlanta tenure is one few will ever forget.

On Feb. 6, 2017, in Quinn’s second season in Atlanta, his Falcons led the New England Patriots 28-3 with 8:31 left in the third quarter of Super Bowl LI. The rest is NFL history: Quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots scored 25 unanswered points to tie the score in regulation, before completing the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, winning 34-28 in overtime.

Terry Francona could relate to losing a lead on the biggest stage. The previous October, Francona’s Cleveland team had stormed out to a 3-1 series lead in the 2016 World Series before ultimately losing to the Chicago Cubs in seven games.

Two months after Atlanta’s Super Bowl defeat, Quinn met with Francona during spring training in Arizona. He wanted to know how the longtime manager, who also managed the Boston Red Sox when they overcame a 3-0 deficit to beat the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series in 2004, handled the messaging in Cleveland after the heartbreaking defeat.

“When you have the disappointment at the end, you’re not over it, you’re past it. But it’s OK to let it fuel you [to] where you can to go,” Quinn said at the time. “That’s where I’m at.”

Francona said what he remembered most about Quinn’s visit was his presence. After they chatted, Quinn hung out in Cleveland’s dugout.

“He’s easy to connect with,” Francona said. “And that to me is a big compliment. You walk in and sit in somebody’s dugout where you’ve never been before and there’s 40 people there that you don’t know. And he was fine.

“Guys that have that quality where they can fit in with everybody gives you an advantage for when you’re coaching because that’s part of and of leading is connecting with everybody, not just people that are like you.”

Quinn has leaned on that quality throughout his time in Washington — numerous Commanders have pointed it out this season. And he relied on it to help push forward after the Super Bowl loss. Quinn’s Falcons bounced back the following season, winning 10 games and earning a berth in the divisional round. But it was the beginning of the end of his time in Atlanta. The Falcons missed the playoffs in 2018 and 2019 after consecutive 7-9 records. After the 0-5 start in 2020, Quinn was driving to Blank’s house.

“The first thing I felt going back home after that is an immense let down of people,” Quinn said of the firing. “I still wanted to deliver a championship for [Blank].”

Though Quinn used the Super Bowl loss to examine in-game strategies, it was the firing that drove him most. Not out of spite, he said, but out of a desire to avoid ever being in that situation again.

“He spent two days feeling sorry for himself and then went to work,” one person close to him said. “He reinvented himself.”

---

One phrase became Quinn’s north star as he began his journey toward his next head coaching gig.

“If I get another chance …”

The transformation began with a phone call to Fox NFL sideline reporter Laura Okmin, who runs a business that helps coaches and athletes with communication and leadership skills.

“I wasn’t going to just rinse and repeat,” Quinn said. “I didn’t get fired because it was going great. So I said, ‘OK, that’s a call to order for me. What needs to change?’ It wasn’t about an ultimatum to myself, ‘I have to do it.’ It would’ve been easy not to do it for sure.”

Quinn, who had worked with Okmin in the past, underwent a 360 review. Quinn provided her with names of people whom he’d cut, fired or passed over for a job. Okmin spoke to between 30 to 40 of them for anonymous feedback to uncover what she called his blind spots — areas for improvement.

Okmin had offered Quinn the service when he was ready. Now, he was.

“I wish he would have taken a month [to recover],” Okmin said, “but for Dan a week or two is a month. That’s a lot of time for him.”

The 360 review can be a difficult process, and is not for everyone, Okmin told ESPN. She has done them for a handful of coaches; many more have expressed interest but didn’t follow through.

“This is hard,” she said. “You hear everything that is said [about you].”

But Quinn was game.

“I wasn’t going to be the victim,” he said.

Among the findings from Okmin’s review: Quinn needed to better develop his assistants. He needed to stop spreading himself too thin. He needed a stronger succession plan on his offensive staff in case coaches left for other jobs — something he lacked in Atlanta. It also called for him to delegate more.

“He’s always had that growth mentality, but the older he’s gotten the growth accelerated more,” Okmin said. “I don’t know if he would have done this [review] five or 10 years before, but that intersection for him was such a meaningful and purposeful one and he squeezed it.”

Four years later, at his introductory news conference with Washington, Quinn referenced the review’s influence, saying he’d try to do too much in Atlanta and vowing he’d change with the Commanders.

“That’s why I’ll lean on [general manager] Adam [Peters] so hard,” he said.

---

Before he was a head coach, Quinn made a name for himself as one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks in 2013 and 2014, the architect of the “Legion of Boom” defense.

After being fired in Atlanta, Quinn was the Cowboys defensive coordinator from 2021 to 2023, where he began to implement his vision for developing assistants. The biggest beneficiary was passing game coordinator and secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr., whom Quinn eventually brought to Washington as his defensive coordinator.

Last year, Quinn had Whitt coordinate the defense — a rare responsibility for someone at his level — while he served as the head coach of the group. Whitt visited every defensive room, not only focusing on the secondary as was the case previously. He also installed plays and presented the playbook to the entire defense. All of which, he said, “got him ready for these moments now” in Washington.

“Most pass game coordinators don’t get that responsibility or opportunity,” said Whitt, whose defense in Washington ranks 12th in scoring and 14th in yards this season. “It opens up the comfort level of me talking and really working with other coaches in that space and talking to other position [groups].”

Quinn’s tenure with the Falcons also included offensive staff changes. After the Super Bowl loss, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan left to become San Francisco’s head coach and took four assistants — including Mike McDaniel, who was an offensive assistant and received a promotion by joining the 49ers — while quarterbacks coach Matt LaFleur was bypassed as his replacement and left to become the Los Angeles Rams‘ quarterbacks coach.

Rather than elevate from within, Quinn replaced Shanahan with Steve Sarkisian, who brought in his own offense. Two years later, Sarkisian was out and Quinn hired Dirk Koetter, who had no previous ties to the team. As a result, the players had to learn three different offenses in the span of four seasons. An offense that ranked first in points in 2016 spent the next four seasons between 10th and 16th despite having talent such as quarterback Matt Ryan and receiver Julio Jones.

In his next opportunity as head coach, Quinn realized he needed a stronger offensive staff. That way, he could better maintain continuity by promoting from within when a coordinator leaves. But to do so, he would need a deep pipeline of assistants.

In Washington, Quinn hired former Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator but also mixed in proven veteran coaches such as Anthony Lynn to handle the run game duties and Brian Johnson the pass game duties. Quinn retained Tavita Pritchard as the quarterbacks coach and hired David Blough as his assistant. If someone leaves, Quinn has choices to promote from within.

“That was part of the reason of having a big, deep staff here,” Quinn said.

Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner, who played for Quinn in Seattle, has noticed a difference with Quinn.

“He found his voice,” Wagner said. “He found what works for him.

---

A few simple words from an unlikely source changed the Cowboys’ defensive fortunes under Quinn.

As part of his quest to reshape his coaching strategy, Quinn turned to the basketball world. He was friends with Marquette coach Shaka Smart, Golden State’s Steve Kerr, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and Utah’s Will Hardy. He has spoken often with Heat assistant Chris Quinn and, this summer, hosted Duke women’s coach Kara Lawson — a northern Virginia native and Commanders fan — at the team facility.

After Dallas drafted Penn State’s Micah Parsons — a middle linebacker with a talent for rushing the passer — Quinn wanted to tap into his versatility. He liked how basketball had moved toward “positionless” players, eschewing the traditional roles on the court — 7-footers, once confined to the paint, were now playing on the perimeter like guards, and lineups didn’t always feature a traditional set of two guards, two forwards and a center.

Before Parsons’ first season in Dallas, Quinn asked former Milwaukee Bucks assistant Sean Sweeney how they developed two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, a 6-foot-11 forward who can play with big men inside and handle the ball outside.

Sweeney’s answer: “We just have him also work with the guards.”

“It was like, ‘OK, I can do that,'” Quinn said.

As a result, Quinn had Parsons train with the defensive ends in addition to the linebackers. He often rushed as an end; he occasionally dropped into coverage. He was a menace as an outside rusher, but they also found other ways to unleash his talent. The Cowboys devised a package in which they used five defensive linemen with Parsons aligned as a middle linebacker. The move paid off. Parsons, being used in a variety of ways, produced a sensational rookie season. He recorded 13 sacks and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. With Parsons as the focal point, Dallas’ defense under Quinn went from 28th in points allowed in 2020 to seventh in 2021.

Quinn developed other Dallas players in the same manner and has continued the practice in Washington. Linebacker Frankie Luvu, for example, spends time working on pass-rush drills with the ends. Some receivers work with the running backs — notably Olamide Zaccheaus — for a few minutes. Other times, for a changeup, Washington uses defensive ends such as 261-pound Dante Fowler Jr. as a pass-rushing defensive tackle.

Quinn has also had conversations with San Antonio Spurs general manager R.C. Buford about player development. From their talks, Quinn began getting his younger players extra training time before or after practice or, as NBA teams do, with an earlier pregame warmup. He also likes to show his teams clips of what Miami Heat assistant Chris Quinn calls “gritty, tough possessions,” highlighting the mentality he wants from his players.

“While the sports are different, a lot of the concepts are the same,” Chris Quinn said. “You’re going to have to do hard things in order to really win.

“I remember he was discussing our clips and how those possessions directly translate or could translate to how it could be used in the football game.”

The non-football coaching influences don’t end there. Dan Quinn has played Lawson’s 2-minute, 49-second “Handle Hard Better” speech to his Cowboys and Commanders players as well. He invited her to spend part of a day with the Commanders this summer.

“He had everybody’s attention,” Lawson said. “When I went into the team meeting and those guys are focused and you could tell they were locked in and hanging on what he was saying and believing in what he was saying. You can definitely feel it. I loved the feel of it. He’s got great energy.”

Quinn also liked Lawson’s perspective on developing players. Because of his talks with her and the other basketball coaches, this year Quinn instituted a period in practice called Elevate Peak Performance. For example, some young players stay after practice for more work with assistant coaches. It’s designed to give them more on-field work to develop as players at a time when the focus is on preparing for games.

“Basketball has done a really good job of development,” he said. “I tried to find ways, how could we apply some of the good development that they’re doing in another sport? The fact that they had done it better, I wanted to find out what could we do differently?”

Quinn’s quest for knowledge wasn’t limited to the hardwood. He has spoken with international cycling coaches as well as renowned rugby coach Stuart Lancaster, whom he met eight years ago at a leadership conference. Two years ago, Quinn sought advice on how to defend the Eagles’ wildly successful “Tush Push.”

“It’s very hard to stop,” Lancaster said.

Quinn says he enjoys “developing a two-way street where you get to share ideas with somebody else.”

“I’m trying to apply that at a bigger level,” he said. “And so a lot of it has to do with training players, developing players.”

---

Every Tuesday night, Quinn gathers his coaches via video conference with mental skills coach Russ Rausch. They focus on breathing techniques that can help in stressful situations to keep them clear-headed. They listen to messages from Rausch, with whom Quinn has worked for more than a decade.

Then they go back to work.

It’s all part of Quinn’s desire to develop his coaches. In some cases, it’s understanding that their best way of doing something might be different than his.

“I definitely see just the intentionality of like, there’s a bunch of different ways to do this,” Washington’s offensive pass game coordinator Brian Johnson said. “And I’m going to let you guys be who you are.”

Quinn said he spoke to Rausch once a month during his first season with the Falcons. But this is the first time he has had his staff do weekly sessions.

“I would say I’m really aware of how important development is to players and to coaches,” Quinn said. “I knew the benefit. And so having a way to do it as a group would be impactful.”

Quinn’s emphasis on development was apparent to those on the outside as well. When Smart visited the team in May, he marveled at the intentionality with which Quinn operated.

“I just was like, ‘Wow,’ this is pretty impressive for the head coach to be focusing so much on the personal and professional growth of his guys,” Smart said.

Quinn’s push for growth for himself and his team has come at the right time for a franchise looking to forge a new identity under new ownership.

Fowler also played for Quinn in Atlanta and Dallas before coming to the Commanders. For him, Quinn’s evolution couldn’t be more clear.

“He’s still the same person. Still the same guy,” Fowler said. “Thank god he just learned from that situation [in Atlanta].”