The HC Dan Quinn Discussion Thread

I guess that’s better than the alternative. But how many of these ‘bought in’ players will be on the roster 2-3 seasons from now?

The direction the team has been going is straight down the toilet, lol…

The biggest positive isn’t team morale imho, it’s that when you look at the guys who got hurt and missed significant time in 2025, there is some talent there.
 
RWJ would be happy.

Listening to Keim's podcast, and again knowing Keim speak fairly well, you got to dramatize his understated points because his understatements tend to have more meaning, not always but most of the time.

I got the vibe that it definitely could go down and soon. It felt mutual. That is, Kliff's interest in HC opportunities could be partly about him wanting to leave. I wouldn't blame him, he had a GM who gave him lemons to work with, with no depth, let alone have to overcome that poorly constructed defense




As to Quinn, Keim said he's guiding this not Peters and his feeling is it wasn't about performance but philisophy. To me some of the explanation came off as being about the defense. The defense doesn't get a chance to practice much against motion and some of the things Kliff's offense doesn't major in.

Keim didn't say this but the other thing is with the fast paced offense, the defense is on the field more. One way to mask a bad defense and or inflate their numbers is via ball control which happened last season but not this one. I would say last off season that the defense is much worse than it looks to some but the offense would disguise some of its flaws.

The downsides to this: you are likely losing all the assistants including Blough. See ya Mariota who loves this offense and gushes about it specifically he said it allows him to see the field in ways he couldn't before and the preperation for games are unique and outstanding.

And Jayden will lose his binky. The odds that you find an offensive coordinator with Kliff's work ethic is almost zero. So Jayden will not only have to learn a new offense but forget the 4:30 AM walk throughs of the game plan with the coordinator, he will have to suck it up and learn to do it on his own. While I agree with those who said Jayden's mom shouldn't butt in -- I get why she did -- her son would not just have to learn a new offense but his regimen would likely have to change too and Jayden by reputation is a very regimented guy.

Keim said Jayden's love of working with Kliff and running this offense is genuine and not just token public comments. I know some think who care what Jayden thinks. That's cool. But for a team that IMO is doing him no favors on other fronts. I wonder if at some point this becomes a place where Jayden thinks to himself lol I've been warned about Washington not being a place where a QB thrives, I am starting to get why, etc.

I don't think there are a lot of sexy options among the firings. Stephanski Is likely getting a HC job. Daboll I keep reading heading to Vegas also Daboll really leans in hard on the QB running. As to Slowik, I read about why they fired him, seemed to be mostly about how they struggled with innovative defenses that used stunts, etc and didn't see Stroud progressing under him. Some insider type forgetting whom mentioned maybe Brian Johnson from the staff.

From AI -- but maybe if so he grew in the last two years?
Johnson's playcalling was criticized throughout the season, with pundits and players calling Johnson's offense too simplistic and akin to a Madden offense with the way Johnson repeatedly relied on screen passes and go routes instead of scheming players open. Johnson was fired following the season.
 
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The biggest positive isn’t team morale imho, it’s that when you look at the guys who got hurt and missed significant time in 2025, there is some talent there.
Daron Payne didn't punch anyone, so there's that.

But I agree--the biggest issue was the injuries; followed by the defensive scheme/play calling. I think it's very telling how much better the defense was after Quinn took over--it was merely bad as opposed to high school JV
 
I still feel firing Kingsbury would be a colossally stupid move. There is no better replacement--even elevating Johnson, who I think is underrated, given how the Eagles offense, especially the pass game, has regressed after he left. I don't think Blough would be gone though, I'm fairly certain they would block that move and promote him, possibly to pass game coord? I don't know, I am spit balling here. I also think the players going to bat for Kingsbury is going to carry weight.

We shall see though.
 
I think there is a high likelihood Kliff was asked to run more with RBs at times.

I have said it before, Scott and Ron had the exact same dynamic in pressers:
Reporter: What about running?
OC: We actually run enough, <insert some reason >

Reporter to HC: what about running?
HC; we need to run more. <insert reason>

I have heard this dynamic play out every year since 2020. When they finally let Scott go, Mayhew and Rivera kept saying that offseason they would be running mire, needed identity… then hired EB.

So I guess we will see.

I think they may be worse next year, yes, but they can’t have so much discord either. Looked like KK may not have had fun with that aspect. It was fun last year while winning. Not so much this year.

Philosophically there was a big disconnect here between HC and OC. That is why I started that thread months back on if you are an HC, how do you pick coordinators. I would think you get a philosophy you like.

I think DQ picked an OC he should have known he would have trouble getting along with.

^^ assuming KK leaves which is the expectation at this point
 
I still feel firing Kingsbury would be a colossally stupid move. There is no better replacement--even elevating Johnson, who I think is underrated, given how the Eagles offense, especially the pass game, has regressed after he left. I don't think Blough would be gone though, I'm fairly certain they would block that move and promote him, possibly to pass game coord? I don't know, I am spit balling here. I also think the players going to bat for Kingsbury is going to carry weight.

We shall see though.
I don’t know if they are going to value maintaining the scheme. I don’t think DQ or AP necessarily like it enough at this point. Those signs have been present for two years.
 
I think there is a high likelihood Kliff was asked to run more with RBs at times.

I have said it before, Scott and Ron had the exact same dynamic in pressers:
Reporter: What about running?
OC: We actually run enough, <insert some reason >

Reporter to HC: what about running?
HC; we need to run more. <insert reason>

I have heard this dynamic play out every year since 2020. When they finally let Scott go, Mayhew and Rivera kept saying that offseason they would be running mire, needed identity… then hired EB.

So I guess we will see.

I think they may be worse next year, yes, but they can’t have so much discord either. Looked like KK may not have had fun with that aspect. It was fun last year while winning. Not so much this year.

Philosophically there was a big disconnect here between HC and OC. That is why I started that thread months back on if you are an HC, how do you pick coordinators. I would think you get a philosophy you like.

I think DQ picked an OC he should have known he would have trouble getting along with.

^^ assuming KK leaves which is the expectation at this point

What Quinn has in common with Rivera naturally is both being D coordinators.

Running the ball more keeps their defensive off the field. Rivera's defense naked, exposed, like Quinn's defense naked and exposed was mostly bad. Quinn's defense is worse. But lol, i don't think an ex-defensive coordinator loves to showcase a crap defense.

Last year it was easy to see it was a crap defense if you looked closer, but the numbers weren't awful because Kliff's offense kept them off the field. Kliff wasn't able to repeat that with Mariota throwing to Chris Moore, teams crowded the line of scrimmage to stop the run. I believe they were still stop 10 in run attempts.

Agree you can't have discord between the HC and coordinators. And I am not one of the Quinn haters. But he lost my trust as to just trusting that he knows what he is doing let alone knows what he's doing what his coordinators -- Whitt was atrocious IMO and that was evident last season, too.
 
I don’t know if they are going to value maintaining the scheme. I don’t think DQ or AP necessarily like it enough at this point. Those signs have been present for two years.
Agreed. I see them wanting a more run oriented offense. That's cool but you need to still be innovated with run and especially pass plays and play calling.

Also, great point on Scott and Ron presser dynamics comparison!
 
I still feel firing Kingsbury would be a colossally stupid move. There is no better replacement--even elevating Johnson, who I think is underrated, given how the Eagles offense, especially the pass game, has regressed after he left. I don't think Blough would be gone though, I'm fairly certain they would block that move and promote him, possibly to pass game coord? I don't know, I am spit balling here. I also think the players going to bat for Kingsbury is going to carry weight.

We shall see though.
I agree, it seems counter intuitive to be firing Kliff. They should be able to work through items they don't see eye to eye in the off season and through improving the talent on his side focusing on the weapons.
 
I don’t know if they are going to value maintaining the scheme.
It has less to do with "maintaining scheme" and more to do with downgrading the offensive coordinator because...

And comparing this organization to anything Rivera is foolish.
 
They should be able to work through items they don't see eye to eye in the off season and through improving the talent on his side focusing on the weapons.
This is also Quinn's strong point, working along side people to come to a consensus. I think it was Keim who also pointed out that Kingsbury is very open to ideas--case in point, Daniels against Cleveland last year told Kliff a play he wanted to run, and they went with it--I believe it was the long TD to Brown? So it seems odd that he would just be like "fuck you, doing what I want."
 
The problem with waiting for Kingsbury to see if he gets a HC gig is that, by the time that happens, the top OC candidates will be long gone. If they are convinced he’ll be a HC somewhere it almost supports the idea of cutting bait now so at least there are quality OC replacements potentially available.
 
The problem with waiting for Kingsbury to see if he gets a HC gig is that, by the time that happens, the top OC candidates will be long gone. If they are convinced he’ll be a HC somewhere it almost supports the idea of cutting bait now so at least there are quality OC replacements potentially available.

Agree. I think that's part of the reason if it goes down it does down fast as Keim alluded to.

Keim also mentioned R. Morris as D coordinator or Ulbrich as possibilities. Ulbrich I'd like.

Morris would almost be the poster child for D coordinator hires post Gregg Williams-Blache for this team. Where its the head coach selling that past poor rankings of said D coordinator is irrelevant -- who cares, have you seen this dude's energy? And then some of us talk oursleves into it based on the coordinator's personality and bravado comments about how the defense will kick ass.

lol, I can recall like yesterday, Jay selling Joe Berry's "energy." And wait to Haslett is unleashed without Shanny holding him back. Joe Whitt's tough guy talk about this defense isn't for every player -- you got to be a special brand of tough to play for the mighty Joe Whitt.

Raheem who by reputation is a really good dude, and is a motivator on steriods would personiify all these past coordinators on steriods -- a lot of hype and a lot of fun in those pressors. But if past is prologue won't be running top defenses.

I got to go back and find the podcast where Logan Paulsen talked about Ulbrich, but loves the personality but ALSO the scheme.
 
This is also Quinn's strong point, working along side people to come to a consensus. I think it was Keim who also pointed out that Kingsbury is very open to ideas--case in point, Daniels against Cleveland last year told Kliff a play he wanted to run, and they went with it--I believe it was the long TD to Brown? So it seems odd that he would just be like "fuck you, doing what I want."
yes Kingsbury has listened to pass play suggestions. There are a few stories like that.

He has also said in a presser last year that he needs to be reminded to run. That DQ has to remind him. They have also differed in pressers for two years. Those are undisguised red flags.

This isn’t conjecture as fact. It is hard fact.

Not saying it leads to him being gone but ignoring hard facts makes little sense to me when we have little to go on as it is.


The problem with waiting for Kingsbury to see if he gets a HC gig is that, by the time that happens, the top OC candidates will be long gone. If they are convinced he’ll be a HC somewhere it almost supports the idea of cutting bait now so at least there are quality OC replacements potentially available.

Yes I said this too, but the counter is the PR. kK doesn’t have bad stats, and they are likely not getting better next year (major gamble). So letting him go looks bad for PR in huge ways.

This is mutually beneficial for PR. Doesn’t mean they wait, but just a suggestion on why they could.

Who knows, maybe they keep him? Maybe a basketball guy dribbles into Ashburn and tells them to keep him. Haha
 
Makes sense honestly. We were a ball control offense more so last year which contributed to the playoff run by helping hide the D…but that was because we had a historically high 4th down conversion rate. As in, most attempts ever, most conversions ever. Daniels was playing out of his mind. I’m not saying that to steal credit from Kliff, I’m saying that to do anything historically well your QB needs to be nearly perfect, which clearly didn’t happen even when healthy this year. That’s not totally sustainable and we saw that execution and productivity fall off this year (yes, in major part due to injuries, but they were also less aggressive probably bc there ended up being less trust that it would HELP rather than hurt given the roster on both sides of the ball. They turtled up a lot). So philosophically I don’t think anything Kliff specifically does helps the D or the TOP, and like Chip Kelly’s Eagles’ old offenses, can in fact hurt both areas when things aren’t going to plan. So I can see that being a disconnect between Quinn + Kliff, though it should have been an obvious one before he was hired? Confusing.

Kliff is a workaholic, Daniels loves that. I’m not as concerned about that dynamic because whoever they bring in, if they don’t rise to the occasion and meet their franchise QB where he’s at and step up, then it was the wrong hire regardless. Kliff is a try hard, he’s essentially a bachelor married to the game. It doesn’t mean he’s working efficiently, we all know folk who performatively work 70 hours a week doing work that others do in 40-45 hours, just for the head pat. I’m exaggerating for humor on Kliff but come on. Lots of coaches around the league are essentially workaholics, and others have work flow each week that leads to success even if they don’t crow about a 3:00am wake up time. The right hire will make it work with Daniels, and the ways in which he develops and protects him (and offers him new tools to grow) would, hypothetically, make him an even better QB. Again, assuming the right hire. The grass is not always greener, but it’s not the fans job to make the hires, and the fans who aren’t Kliff fans, they aren’t influencing this move. So the FO and Quinn agree on some level, Kliff agrees on poor fit on some level (and agreed, he has a grievance with the lack of talent he was supplied outside the OL—but it’s not like he leaned hard on the run game to compensate and help himself or his QB, so?)

It’s not “who cares what Daniels thinks” so much as…no matter how well-intentioned and smart he is for a 24 year old QB, he doesn’t know what’s best for an organization. Sometimes you HAVE to take a guy’s binky away for him to grow correctly; sometimes the habits being formed are actually holding him back long term. We’ll see if that is the case in this situation. So many players endorse an offensive scheme before their OC leaves, because it’s what they know and what they’re comfortable in. Most of these guys do not actually have the NFL experience to know what they are or aren’t missing out on until they have it or lose it. Daniels does not know what would work best for him, how another scheme could benefit him if the right hire is made.

Like I said, I personally am not a Kliff fan long term but don’t endorse a move JUST to make a move. They have to love someone for the hire (and maybe they don’t have a choice if it’s mutual or he gets hired away), and I’m not interested in Kliff’s microwaved leftovers (Brian Johnson) when Kliff Original Flavor wasn’t my favorite. So is it possible we regret this, or don’t get what we want from replacing him? Yeah, but that has nothing to do with the foundation the criticisms of him are built on. Every fan “want” comes with the caveat that the organization has to then successfully hire someone better, who is a better fit.
 
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Yeah - at this point it has to be about past performance. I’m concerned that Peters was adamant that he is just here to support DQ in whatever decisions he makes. I think Quinn is too loyal and too ‘people focused’ and that this may be his biggest blind spot. Yes a coach should be allowed to live or die with the guys he chooses but I also think it’s a GMs job to guide and ask tough questions
 
He has also said in a presser last year that he needs to be reminded to run. That DQ has to remind him. They have also differed in pressers for two years. Those are undisguised red flags.
No one has mentioned this other than you (repeatedly). Quinn has repeatedly praised Kingsbury, even with these "two year, undisguised red flags" you keep bring up, repeatedly. When I hear "undisguised red flags" from Keim, Galdi, or someone reputable, I listen.

kK doesn’t have bad stats, and they are likely not getting better next year (major gamble).
Wait...you think the offense is going to get WORSE next year?
 
Yeah - at this point it has to be about past performance. I’m concerned that Peters was adamant that he is just here to support DQ in whatever decisions he makes. I think Quinn is too loyal and too ‘people focused’ and that this may be his biggest blind spot. Yes a coach should be allowed to live or die with the guys he chooses but I also think it’s a GMs job to guide and ask tough questions
It is starting to seem like AP’s way of collaborating maybe too passive on his side.
 
Cowboys just fired defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus
 
Like I said, I personally am not a Kliff fan long term but don’t endorse a move JUST to make a move. They have to love someone for the hire (and maybe they don’t have a choice if it’s mutual or he gets hired away), and I’m not interested in Kliff’s microwaved leftovers (Brian Johnson) when Kliff Original Flavor wasn’t my favorite. So is it possible we regret this, or don’t get what we want from replacing him? Yeah, but that has nothing to do with the foundation the criticisms of him are built on. Every fan “want” comes with the caveat that the organization has to then successfully hire someone better, who is a better fit.
There are things I don't necessarily like about what Kliff does---the Minnesota game being the primary example--I think everyone agrees he called a shit game. My assumption on that is he got all his toys back and got pass-happy, playing right into Minnesota's hands. However, I look at how bad Jalen Hurts has gotten every year, and that scares the crap out of me. So there are improvements that need to be made--which, again, everyone agrees on--but tossing Kliff out without a plan is "Jay Gruden hiring Joe Barry instead of Wade Phillips" level short-sighted.

Not dismissing moving on from KK outright, I just don't see the benefit.
 

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