The HC Dan Quinn Discussion Thread

[Primus Porcus]

I didn’t specify when he became unhappy with the situation, but it’s clear that he eventually did. Or they both did. Or it just wasn’t a fit any longer and he wasn’t unhappy at all. Or whatever. Not really relevant to my point.

I dont know that you can use it as a data point to support your argument, then say the point is not relevant. Either he did or he didnt. You're stating that part of the reason to question Quinn is the fact that he hired 2 coordinators, and they've now moved on after year 2 under the assumption that them moving on was they failed. They didnt fail. Whitt failed. Kingsbury didnt. I don't think it's unfair to at least entertain the idea that Quinn decided to make the move for multiple reasons... none of which determine that Kliff was a failed hire at the time.

1. Quinn and Peters talked, and given the developments of the season, they decided they wanted a different direction to the offense, an offense that likely is more 'protective' of Jayden. Kliff's offense is what Kliff's offense is. He likely doesn't want to change things drastically because he's confident and comfortable with his offense as it is.
2. Quinn and Kliff talked, and beyond just the idea of going in a modified direction offensively, Kliff made it clear that he was interested in getting another Head Coaching job. He would likely be making the rounds, and it could take weeks, or even a month for him to land. This would then delay Quinn from being able to get a replacement until much further in the OC search, potentially costing him a chance at one of his preferred candidates, forcing an even bigger rift between the offensive playbook from last year vs this year, in a very VERY important season for his young QB.
3. Quinn had Blough's name at the top of his succession board, and when Kingsbury made it clear he was going to be looking to move to a HC job, Quinn didn't want to risk letting Blough out of the building. Detroit had already requested permission to interview Blough, and it's not a secret that he's regarded around the league as an up and comer. Quinn said he learned from Atlanta, when he lost Shanahan, not keeping a pipeline going... he wasn't going to let that happen again.

There's a bunch of different factors that scream that this was not a bad hire, it was just a shifting of direction as things evolved. It happens, so to your original point, yeah, i think it's fair to give Quinn a bit of a pass when it comes to 2025, and the off season he's now faced with. He pulled the plug on his friend Whitt, because it didnt work out... I think the Kingsbury separation was simply one of 'it was just time' for both parties.

 

[Conn]

I dont know that you can use it as a data point to support your argument, then say the point is not relevant. Either he did or he didnt. You're stating that part of the reason to question Quinn is the fact that he hired 2 coordinators, and they've now moved on after year 2 under the assumption that them moving on was they failed. They didnt fail. Whitt failed. Kingsbury didnt. I don't think it's unfair to at least entertain the idea that Quinn decided to make the move for multiple reasons... none of which determine that Kliff was a failed hire at the time.

1. Quinn and Peters talked, and given the developments of the season, they decided they wanted a different direction to the offense, an offense that likely is more 'protective' of Jayden. Kliff's offense is what Kliff's offense is. He likely doesn't want to change things drastically because he's confident and comfortable with his offense as it is.
2. Quinn and Kliff talked, and beyond just the idea of going in a modified direction offensively, Kliff made it clear that he was interested in getting another Head Coaching job. He would likely be making the rounds, and it could take weeks, or even a month for him to land. This would then delay Quinn from being able to get a replacement until much further in the OC search, potentially costing him a chance at one of his preferred candidates, forcing an even bigger rift between the offensive playbook from last year vs this year, in a very VERY important season for his young QB.
3. Quinn had Blough's name at the top of his succession board, and when Kingsbury made it clear he was going to be looking to move to a HC job, Quinn didn't want to risk letting Blough out of the building. Detroit had already requested permission to interview Blough, and it's not a secret that he's regarded around the league as an up and comer. Quinn said he learned from Atlanta, when he lost Shanahan, not keeping a pipeline going... he wasn't going to let that happen again.

There's a bunch of different factors that scream that this was not a bad hire, it was just a shifting of direction as things evolved. It happens, so to your original point, yeah, i think it's fair to give Quinn a bit of a pass when it comes to 2025, and the off season he's now faced with. He pulled the plug on his friend Whitt, because it didnt work out... I think the Kingsbury separation was simply one of 'it was just time' for both parties.

Any of that could be true, it was just a minor part of my point. The idea that it’s in a macro sense a bad thing to be starting over on both sides of the ball going into year 3 when you’re trying to develop a young franchise QB just doesn’t take into consideration the reasons behind the starting over. Whatever it was (and it could be any of the things you propose, yes) it stopped working for the parties involved. That’s a failure when you’re trying to put the weight of a franchise on a 25 year old QB, even if the hire itself wasn’t a failure when it happened, when the succession plan is a smart guy with 2 seasons of assistant QB coaching experience (including a few games as interim QB coach while Daniels wasn’t playing) and no other coaching experience. That’s a massive risk no matter the reasons.

Either way, it was not the main point of my post. My main point was to talk about Quinn’s entire past success as a HC relying on having an elite offense, otherwise he loses more than half his games. So if Blough doesn’t fairly quickly produce an elite offense, Quinn’s history tells us we won’t compensate with great defense and still compete as a playoff team—history tells us we’ll be worse than .500. Because that’s what’s always happened for Quinn outside of the Shanahan years and 2024 with Kliff. That’s pretty scary when Blough needs time to settle into his new position and Keim said Quinn might need to start worrying if we have a slow start.

It’s not even about whether Blough was a bad hire or not. He could have it in him to be elite. But expecting that from him early on is crazy. And history suggests that means we won’t win a bunch of games in the meantime. Which is seemingly dangerous for Quinn’s longevity here. Just a precarious situation.

 

[Primus Porcus]

Any of that could be true, it was just a minor part of my point. The idea that it’s in a macro sense a bad thing to be starting over on both sides of the ball going into year 3 when you’re trying to develop a young franchise QB just doesn’t take into consideration the reasons behind the starting over. Whatever it was (and it could be any of the things you propose, yes) it stopped working for the parties involved. That’s a failure when you’re trying to put the weight of a franchise on a 25 year old QB, even if the hire itself wasn’t a failure when it happened, when the succession plan is a smart guy with 2 seasons of assistant QB coaching experience (including a few games as interim QB coach while Daniels wasn’t playing) and no other coaching experience. That’s a massive risk no matter the reasons.

Either way, it was not the main point of my post. My main point was to talk about Quinn’s entire past success as a HC relying on having an elite offense, otherwise he loses more than half his games. So if Blough doesn’t fairly quickly produce an elite offense, Quinn’s history tells us we won’t compensate with great defense and still compete as a playoff team—history tells us we’ll be worse than .500. Because that’s what’s always happened for Quinn outside of the Shanahan years and 2024 with Kliff. That’s pretty scary when Blough needs time to settle into his new position and Keim said Quinn might need to start worrying if we have a slow start.

It’s not even about whether Blough was a bad hire or not. He could have it in him to be elite. But expecting that from him early on is crazy. And history suggests that means we won’t win a bunch of games in the meantime. Which is seemingly dangerous for Quinn’s longevity here. Just a precarious situation.

I guess my point is, that if any of that is true, it likely lessens the hot seat of Quinn. If Keim is speculating it, it's likely possible, but I don't think it should be some foregone conclusion that Quinn is going to struggle and be fighting for his job mid season. Peters understands how this building looked the day they moved in.. it's not a simple task to try and get it corrected

 

[Boone]

Man Primus Porcus - you are working haaaard here.

 

[Conn]

I guess my point is, that if any of that is true, it likely lessens the hot seat of Quinn. If Keim is speculating it, it's likely possible, but I don't think it should be some foregone conclusion that Quinn is going to struggle and be fighting for his job mid season. Peters understands how this building looked the day they moved in.. it's not a simple task to try and get it corrected

Sure, if it doesn’t really matter how we do next year in regards to Quinn’s job security, then there’s time to figure it out. I think that goes without saying. If he has rock solid job security, then it doesn’t matter if his coordinators hit the ground running, I guess. Risky situation for his entire regime if that’s not true. Keim even hinting at a slow start being dangerous for Quinn is a huge red flag to me, but of course we won’t know. Lot of time to improve the roster between now and then, the spotlight turns to AP for a few months.

 

[Boone]

I would hope he doesn't have rock solid security next year. If we win 5 or fewer games again for example, that's simply not good enough. I think that would tend to drive the belief that 2024 was an anomaly where we took the league by storm with a QB and offense no one had film on in a season where just about everything bounced our way.

It's the NFL. We'd better improve the roster and show improvement or coaches should be under pressure.

 

[Conn]

I would hope he doesn't have rock solid security next year. If we win 5 or fewer games again for example, that's simply not good enough. I think that would tend to drive the belief that 2024 was an anomaly where we took the league by storm with a QB and offense no one had film on in a season where just about everything bounced our way.

It's the NFL. We'd better improve the roster and show improvement or coaches should be under pressure.

I don’t think it’s controversial to say that at all. Some disagree, I guess. But Quinn and his new coordinators need to be competitive to keep their jobs. Where is that line? No idea. Momentum of the season probably matters as well. Improving over time and getting young players involved, getting breakout performances, etc. looks a lot better than struggling through the season and then ending with a losing streak where the vibes aren’t great.

 

[skinsmarydu]

We've had 'a season' here and there even with Snyder. What we haven't had (and what there is no guarantee AP and Quinn will be able to deliver) is consistent winning. That's what puts fans in seats.

And what spilled about 2 grand here in ATL, to not even see JD5.

I don't know that I can do that again, much less get to the new stadium (I've never been to a home game ever, so that's "lottery, bucket list kinda shit").

Not knowing how we're gonna be sittin' in a couple years matters

 

[Primus Porcus]

Man Primus Porcus - you are working haaaard here.

Not really, i've been pretty locked in on the idea that Kingsbury wasn't fired, so i'm not going to act like thats' a dark mark on Quinn.

I've also watched coaches around the league fall short over and over again until they get it. I've watched us as fans scream about successes and failures in the heat of emotion. I get that we're fans, and we're emotional, but development is a thing. You gotta climb the mountain, and climbing the mountain means you fall down sometimes. You learn and adapt. The expecation of instant gratification can be a dangerous thing.

 

[Boone]

Well I’m not advocating for Quinn to lose his job. But the effort to spin parting with both coordinators after 2 seasons as no big deal - I love ya but I can’t get on board with that. Next season will go a long way towards determining if Quinn is a really nice guy but just an average coach or if he really has learned from his first go-round.

 

[clskinsfan]

I dont think there is any other accurate take than Quinn is on the clock. If he had the same season last season as this one he would most likely be looking for a job right now. And I am not trying to take anything away from last season. It was an incredible run. Just saying he earned another year off of that season alone.

 

[Primus Porcus]

Well I’m not advocating for Quinn to lose his job. But the effort to spin parting with both coordinators after 2 seasons as no big deal - I love ya but I can’t get on board with that. Next season will go a long way towards determining if Quinn is a really nice guy but just an average coach or if he really has learned from his first go-round.

I didn't say it was no big deal, I'm just saying that imho, Kliff wasn't 'fired' which is what has been said a ton of times on here for people trying to use it as a data point when arguing Quinn is either a problem or on the hot seat. He may be, but I still am just trying to clarify facts. I'm not looking at it as though Kliff was 'fired.' I think there are layers to the decision that forced the hand. Now if you want to say Quinn needs to be evaluated, ok i'm with you, but I also predicted a regression this year. It clearly was amplified by injuries, so I'm not in panic mode yet because I think this kind of pointed in the direction I was expecting. Of course i'm not happy about a 4 win seasons with an additional throw away exhibition at the end of the year, but this is an onion. There are multiple layers, and when you cut them, some of them are gonna make you cry.

 

[skinsmarydu]

Well I’m not advocating for Quinn to lose his job. But the effort to spin parting with both coordinators after 2 seasons as no big deal - I love ya but I can’t get on board with that. Next season will go a long way towards determining if Quinn is a really nice guy but just an average coach or if he really has learned from his first go-round.

28-3 , baby.

No one in ATL will evvvvvvvvverrrrrrrrrrrrrr forget.

I didn't want him in the first place. And coming from Dallasssssssss? Fuck that.

 

[Primus Porcus]

28-3 , baby.

No one in ATL will evvvvvvvvverrrrrrrrrrrrrr forget.

I didn't want him in the first place. And coming from Dallasssssssss? Fuck that.

see, i can't prescribe to that.

28-3 happened in the SUPER BOWL.

34 years... 34 years of wishing, and hoping, that there was someone good enough to come along, and he got us 1 game away from it.

 

[skinsmarydu]

see, i can't prescribe to that.

28-3 happened in the SUPER BOWL.

34 years... 34 years of wishing, and hoping, that there was someone good enough to come along, and he got us 1 game away from it.

Remember, I know exactly where Middletown is 😁

When you forget how to maintain a lead, you're not doing well...especially when you've had 30 minutes to hash it out with your players, who were the actual people who GOT that lead on the best QB in the league, and in the biggest game in the league.

We all know what it feels like to get to the SB, team here had only Chrystal Chandelier from the past attempt ... not arguing, just sayin' DQ ain't all that.

 

[Primus Porcus]

Remember, I know exactly where Middletown is 😁

When you forget how to maintain a lead, you're not doing well...especially when you've had 30 minutes to hash it out with your players, who were the actual people who GOT that lead on the best QB in the league, and in the biggest game in the league.

We all know what it feels like to get to the SB, team here had only Chrystal Chandelier from the past attempt ... not arguing, just sayin' DQ ain't all that.

But they were IN THE SUPER BOWL lol. We haven't sniffed one of those in 3 decades. He was at least good enough to coach his team to being one of the final 2 standing that season. He outcoached 30 other coaches. Of course that's a little grandstandish, but the point is that the goal is to win the Super Bowl, and he made it to the game. Stuff happens, and you learn from it. I just personally can't discount the fact that he was good enough to get there, so that deserves some credit.

 

[Riggo44]

Quinn's successors have had a ton of success in Atlanta, though, right?

 

[skinsmarydu]

Quinn's successors have had a ton of success in Atlanta, though, right?

Kirk?

Really?

 

[Riggo44]

Kirk?

Really?

They...they haven't? You don't say...😁

 

[SkinsLife]

But they were IN THE SUPER BOWL lol. We haven't sniffed one of those in 3 decades. He was at least good enough to coach his team to being one of the final 2 standing that season. He outcoached 30 other coaches. Of course that's a little grandstandish, but the point is that the goal is to win the Super Bowl, and he made it to the game. Stuff happens, and you learn from it. I just personally can't discount the fact that he was good enough to get there, so that deserves some credit.

Quinn didnt out-coach anyone. Shanahan did.. it was Kyle's coming out party and he's been one of the top OC/HC in the NFL since then. The only thing Quinn "accomplished" in ATL was a bottom of the barrel Defense for several seasons. As soon as Kyle went to Niners the team fell apart. So it should be no surprise to anyone that he's repeating the same pattern here. He better pray that Bluogh is his next Shanahan or Quinn will be working the fries at Mcdonalds same time next year