The HC Dan Quinn Discussion Thread

[Voice_of_Reason]

I've been on a hiatus for the past few months, and I'm not going to read through 35 pages on Quinn.

Here are my general thoughts:

1. Quin is a good coach. Not a great coach, and not a bad coach.
2. The #1 reason this season turned entirely sideways is the team lost more players than they were able to cope with.
3. That said, the single most disappointing thing about the team this year is they didn't have that one upset win where they were short handed and just out-coached the opponent. That's a failure of the coaching staff as a whole.
4. It took Quinn too long (hindsight being 20/20, probably a year too long) to figure out that Whitt didn't have it, at least not yet, and needed to be replaced. It would have been a bold move to do it after the 2024 season, but the offense and good dumb luck covered up so many defensive scheme related issues, it's not funny. I'm all about letting people develop in their roles, but Quinn needed to figure out Whitt was in over his head and wasn't going to improve before he did.
5. I don't think Quinn deserved to be fired the year after he coached the team to the NFC Championship game. I believe that level of success buys you a little leash. Even with all the luck in the world, that's a tremendous accomplishment, and Quinn should get credit for it.
6. That said, he didn't distinguish himself this year. And that's troubling, so 2026 is going to be really telling and important for him.
7. I was one of Kliff's biggest supporters. I don't know what happened or why he got fired. It is a real risk firing an OC that the offensive players, and especially the QB, liked, and who's offense was pretty good this season given everything it went through. I give Quinn credit for pulling the chord (even if I actually disagree with it) if he felt it was the right thing to do. Hiring Blough is also a risk.
8. Quinn needs to buy a thesaurus and stop using "in this space." It's a crutch phrase and it's annoying as hell.
9. The team never quit on Quinn. And that says a lot about the way he treats people, and is able to motivate players. I think Quinn can be a succesful playoff winning coach here IF the following things are true:
   1. Daniels is the QB he was last season
   2. The roster is better and stays healthier
   3. He picks the right coordinators.
10. If any of those things don't happen, he himself doesn't have the coaching chops coach a team out of a bad situation. He MIGHT on defense, if he was the defensive coordinator and had the right players. He's been a really successful DC in the very recent past. But he's not Belichick. He's not going to scheme up a defense out of thin air to get wins....

 

[Command The Best]

better pray that Bluogh is his next Shanahan or Quinn will be working the fries at Mcdonalds same time next year

I think Blough will be fine but I don’t think it will be enough to keep DQ here… I can’t see in any dream world where this team specially defensively with all the holes we have (back end especially) where we go from 12-5 last season to 5-12 this past year and expect to be back to being a winner again in 26’ … let’s be honest can any of us truly with any sincerity think the Daniels (healthy or not all season) will get close to his 24’ form? I can’t and as it stands now other then JJ McCarthy can you honestly sit where you are now and say that he’s better then any other QB in that draft? … I can’t… maybe I’ve been a fan of this franchise too long and seen the awfulness of this franchise cause I honestly think 24’ was a fluke season and will never be seen again…

 

[Conn]

I’ve been a cynic lately about the decision-making processes of this team, but even given that perceived “negativity” towards this regime…no, I really don’t find it hard to imagine Jayden Daniels regaining his form in 2026. He’s a special talent and I expect us to do more to surround him with talent, and to do more to develop him as a pocket passer while he still scrambles when needed. What we saw his rookie year was pure, unadulterated talent. He was clutch, his accuracy was out of this world, and while we got lucky bounces that made the game outcomes unsustainable with this roster, he really didn’t produce in a gimmicky way like RG3 did. He showed unreal talent as a passer and his ball placement was breathtaking at times. I think he bailed Kliff out of bad calls all the time, I do not think it was Kliff maximizing him.

So…if we help him by acquiring some talent I can definitely see Daniels bouncing back. Will that be enough to save Quinn’s job here? Depends on the rest. AP and Quinn and his new coordinators have a lot of work ahead of them.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I’ve been a cynic lately about the decision-making processes of this team, but even given that perceived “negativity” towards this regime…no, I really don’t find it hard to imagine Jayden Daniels regaining his form in 2026. He’s a special talent and I expect us to do more to surround him with talent, and to do more to develop him as a pocket passer while he still scrambles when needed. What we saw his rookie year was pure, unadulterated talent. He was clutch, his accuracy was out of this world, and while we got lucky bounces that made the game outcomes unsustainable with this roster, he really didn’t produce in a gimmicky way like RG3 did. He showed unreal talent as a passer and his ball placement was breathtaking at times. I think he bailed Kliff out of bad calls all the time, I do not think it was Kliff maximizing him.

So…if we help him by acquiring some talent I can definitely see Daniels bouncing back. Will that be enough to save Quinn’s job here? Depends on the rest. AP and Quinn and his new coordinators have a lot of work ahead of them.

If JD5 regains his form and stays healthy, that bodes really well for Quinn.

I don’t remember who said it, it might have been Mark Bullock, but he said that Daniels did extremely well on the “on schedule” stuff in 2024, because of all the reps and trust he had with his WRs.

However starting with the Terry holdout and then all the injuries, he literally never had that this year and it affected his trust and willingness to just turn the ball loose.

One thing I think Quinn has to do as HC is make sure Daniels has enough reps in preseason to be comfortable with his receivers in game situations.

Last year Daniels played in one drive an had zero pass attempts. I said at the time that was a risk and I think I’ve been proven correct on that.

Quinn can’t affect the roster or health. But he can effect preparation. And that’s going to be critical.

 

[method man]

1. If any of those things don't happen, he himself doesn't have the coaching chops coach a team out of a bad situation. He MIGHT on defense, if he was the defensive coordinator and had the right players. He's been a really successful DC in the very recent past. But he's not Belichick. He's not going to scheme up a defense out of thin air to get wins....

His days as an elite defensive mind are over. Over the last couple years and even his time in Dallas, his defenses have really strugged against Shanahan tree guys, even the dregs of it like Zac Robinson. He has had years to find a solve but he has not been able to. He really really needs Flores to come here and bail him out to save his tenure as head coach, even if it means Flores makes as much as or more than him.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

His days as an elite defensive mind are over. Over the last couple years and even his time in Dallas, his defenses have really strugged against Shanahan tree guys, even the dregs of it like Zac Robinson. He has had years to find a solve but he has not been able to. He really really needs Flores to come here and bail him out to save his tenure as head coach, even if it means Flores makes as much as or more than him.

In fairness, a lot of the Shanahan guys have outstanding offenses. And it’s some scheme and some players.

Flores would be the best situation, and that’s what I said somewhere.

But we’ll see. He had to make a really good hire. I think in the end it’s going to be somebody off his tree but I hope not.

 

[method man]

In fairness, a lot of the Shanahan guys have outstanding offenses. And it’s some scheme and some players.

Flores would be the best situation, and that’s what I said somewhere.

But we’ll see. He had to make a really good hire. I think in the end it’s going to be somebody off his tree but I hope not.

Given they aren’t talking to Schwartz and Ullbrich is staying in Atlanta, his last two chances at a star DC are Flores and Gannon

 

[36ST21]

It is really amazing to sit back and look at all of the big-name HC candidates that have been available over the past couple of years:

Johnson
MacDonald
Vrabel
McDaniel
Stefanski
Harbaugh
Tomlin
Flores

None of these guys is/would have been a slam dunk hire, and some of them were never coming to WAS under any circumstances; but to have Dan Quinn instead of any one of these names is quite interesting in the grand scheme of things. Lots of dominos had to fall into (or out of) place.

 

[heisenberg]

It's insane the level of coaching talent that has become available this year.
Hopefully mcdermott takes a year off so if we crash and burn next year he'll be available for interviews.

 

[heisenberg]

When this season ended and some here wanted us to at least contemplate replacing quinn the big pushback was the season he had last year bought him a mulligan despite how awful we looked this year and how his defense has been atrocious both seasons.

Well clearly the bar is higher in buffalo because they just fired this guy.

Absolutely incredible the level of coaching talent that has been let go in this cycle and I no longer feel even mildly guilty for my opinion that we should consider letting Quinn go.

 

[Conn]

When this season ended and some here wanted us to at least contemplate replacing quinn the big pushback was the season he had last year bought him a mulligan despite how awful we looked this year and how his defense has been atrocious both seasons.

Well clearly the bar is higher in buffalo because they just fired this guy.

View attachment 13983

Absolutely incredible the level of coaching talent that has been let go in this cycle and I no longer feel even mildly guilty for my opinion that we should consider letting Quinn go.

Failing the same way in the playoffs over and over again is going to cause some people to want a fresh start, when you have a guy like Josh Allen wasting away. Not saying it’s correct, but it happens. Now Allen played poorly so this seems like a scapegoat kind of firing, especially since the guy who should really be fired, Beane, likely threw McDermott under the bus to keep his job. The constant complaint is that Josh Allen has to be Superman bc the roster isn’t good enough for him to overcome in the playoffs. That sounds like more of a GM problem

 

[heisenberg]

Failing the same way in the playoffs over and over again is going to cause some people to want a fresh start, when you have a guy like Josh Allen wasting away. Not saying it’s correct, but it happens. Now Allen played poorly so this seems like a scapegoat kind of firing, especially since the guy who should really be fired, Beane, likely threw McDermott under the bus to keep his job. The constant complaint is that Josh Allen has to be Superman bc the roster isn’t good enough for him to overcome in the playoffs. That sounds like more of a GM problem

Yeah it does happen and often it works out for both parties, Andy Reid and the eagles are exhibit A.

I just cant fathom firing a coach with that resumé, hopefully we get to that point someday but right now its long ago in a galaxy far far away.

 

[Riggo44]

The constant complaint is that Josh Allen has to be Superman bc the roster isn’t good enough for him to overcome in the playoffs. That sounds like more of a GM problem

It sounds rather familiar as well.

 

[Conn]

It sounds rather familiar as well.

Definitely. Time to course correct since it’s only been two years, compared to Beane’s 8 or so. But a real concern

 

[heisenberg]

The more I look at mcdermotts record the more staggering it is to me that he was fired.
9 seasons as a coach and 8 playoff appearances.
Consistently wins 11 to 13 games a year, It's not like hes Rivera and keeps squeaking into the playoffs with 7 wins.
He has more playoff wins in the last 5 years than we have in the last 35.

No way im firing that guy, im gonna keep giving him chances until he either makes it over the hump or the wheels fall off and he loses the locker room and has multiple bad seasons.

Or maybe after 18 to 20 seasons like Harbaugh and tomlin where its been so long that a change is warranted but I think this is a huge mistake by the bills.

 

[Boone]

Yeah. It almost feels like a GM who figures somebody is going to go, so launches a campaign to lay blame elsewhere - in this case, on McDermott. The fact that he gets promoted while McDermott is sent packing - it smells funny.

 

[Conn]

The more I look at mcdermotts record the more staggering it is to me that he was fired.
9 seasons as a coach and 8 playoff appearances.
Consistently wins 11 to 13 games a year, It's not like hes Rivera and keeps squeaking into the playoffs with 7 wins.
He has more playoff wins in the last 5 years than we have in the last 35.

No way im firing that guy, im gonna keep giving him chances until he either makes it over the hump or the wheels fall off and he loses the locker room and has multiple bad seasons.

Or maybe after 18 to 20 seasons like Harbaugh and tomlin where its been so long that a change is warranted but I think this is a huge mistake by the bills.

Seems like Beane won a power struggle there. Fails upwards to VP of Football Ops and gets to hire another coach. Happens frequently, the GM is usually the person in the organization who is closest to ownership and provides a lifeline into what is going on in the football side of the business. So owners often choose their longtime GM over the HC in situations where the team isn’t getting over the hump…even when the issue seems to be talent acquisition!

 

[Boone]

I understand the conversation on McDermott began with 'how is Quinn safe but someone like McDermott gets fired?' but McDermott firing conversation should happen here https://www.bgobsession.com/threads/the-race-to-black-monday.180316/

 

[Ashburn Dave]

Seems like Beane won a power struggle there. Fails upwards to VP of Football Ops and gets to hire another coach. Happens frequently, the GM is usually the person in the organization who is closest to ownership and provides a lifeline into what is going on in the football side of the business. So owners often choose their longtime GM over the HC in situations where the team isn’t getting over the hump…even when the issue seems to be talent acquisition!

We know.

 

[DWinzit]

I'd love to be in AP's head to see if he is second guessing himself with all the HC candidates that are available