The HC Dan Quinn Discussion Thread

[skinsinparadise]

I do like how personable he is. And I haven’t given up on him.

But he has some work to do.

That's sort of where I am with Quinn.

Do I think he's a legit leader of men, players and coaches like working for him, good motivator, good guy -- yes to all of it.

Do I agree with those who think Quinn had zero to do with their big run in 2024? Nope. I do think he was a key part of it.

Do I like the job he did in 2025? Nope.

The best analogy I can think of related to Quinn is he legitimately overhauled a culture in one season and had the best season for this franchise is over 30 years -- but followed that up with a complacent let down season. And its not that uncommon. Sheehan was going over this on one of his shows. It's not that unique for an upstart team to fall apart the next season.

Some of the reasons he was successful in year 1 -- being the team that was the hunter, played with an edge, practicing for tight games and winning tight games, the chemistry was special. His style was conducive to all that was happening IMO. Yes, Jayden was 90% of it, but Quinn and the rest of the team added to that journey. Keim said he's been around a lot of teams but no team was as close as that one. Golong wrote a 10 page article about how Quinn did it, and I posted here and it was celebrated by most at the time.

this is that article: https://www.golongtd.com/p/inside-dan-quinns-total-transformation

But the next season, yeah injuries were the key thing that sunk the season, but IMO as great as Quinn looked handiling the ride in 2024, he crashed dealing with adversity of 2025. It felt to me like he got so full of himself after 2024. Peters, too. Again not in an obnoxious way but more in an overconfident they don't expect to fail type of way and lost their edge. I somewhat got the logic of what he was doing even though I disagreed with it in real time. They were one of the least injured teams in the NFL in 2024 and were fresh and hungry for the home stretch that year. So why not take the summer as sort of a rest up period for the roster -- be fresh for the post season and not wear down the players where they are prone to injury. There were other factors, too. But in short it all blew up in his face.

What does Quinn do next? I don't know. It feels like watching his late season press conferences and the ones this year, too he's shaken by the 2025 experinece. But is he too shaken? lol, like some dude going through a midlife crisis, got dumped by his wife and starts dating a 20 year old college student and buys a sports car and tries to change everything about his life.

While I like that Quinn isn't using excuses to explain last season and according to Keim privately he's the same no excuses -- it feels like he might be overeacting and overcompensating. And on my end, it gives me less faith in him where it feels like Quinn is winging it as to dealing with the odd dramatic rise and fall from one season to the next. It's like he's gone from some dude who was the most popular guy in school to being the class nerd the next semester and is having big issues processing it. That's how it feels to me.

 

[Boone]

Just for the record, I didn’t say Quinn had nothing to do with 2024 - I said it was our offense that was almost entirely responsible for our success that year and that I doubt Quinn had much to do with it. You are right SiP that he did make the call to ‘go for it’ at a record rate and that was a big part of our identity that season. But even that was the result of Jayden and how Kliff had built the offense.

I only brought it up because some are talking about his influence with Blough as if that’s definitively a good thing and I’m far from sure it is, particularly given Quinn couldn’t even help Joe Whitt Jr. field a competent defense.

 

[mcdonaldrw]

You know I hope that Blough wasn't hired purely as a yes man.

 

[DWinzit]

You know I hope that Blough wasn't hired purely as a yes man.

I didn't get that feeling from Blough's presser. He definitely has a vision for JD and the offense. DQ could have influence in it or they at least see much more eye to eye than DQ did with Kliff

 

[skinsinparadise]

Just for the record, I didn’t say Quinn had nothing to do with 2024 - I said it was our offense that was almost entirely responsible for our success that year and that I doubt Quinn had much to do with it. You are right SiP that he did make the call to ‘go for it’ at a record rate and that was a big part of our identity that season. But even that was the result of Jayden and how Kliff had built the offense.

I only brought it up because some are talking about his influence with Blough as if that’s definitively a good thing and I’m far from sure it is, particularly given Quinn couldn’t even help Joe Whitt Jr. field a competent defense.

I wasn't thinking of you when making that comment. But there are some really strong doubters of Quinn who feel he deserves no credit for 2024. IMO to each their own but I think that's silly. it's not like every team with a very good QB makes the championship game every season let alone does it with a mediocre to bad supporting cast.

To me Quinn is a specific flavor and that flavor worked perfectly in that context in 2024. Conversely, he IMO was the wrong flavor for 2025.

For a dude that preaches so much about handiling adversity -- I don't think that's his forte. He strikes me more as a dude when's its 70 and sunny he does better than most, yeah he can ride the rare rainy day during the sunshine -- but when you are experiencing a hurricane, he's not the dude I want to perservere through it.

To his credit, apparently the locker room was still good during this poor season. We've seen the locker room implode in bad seasons with some of the predecessor coaches. Keim talked about that. That's good.

But Quinn strikes me coming off of this storm as flailing too much for my liking. While I prefer Quinn's style of responding to a bad season (it really affected him it seems) to lets say Rivera who would shrug it off, spin in and give a thousand excuses -- Quinn seems to be overreacting a bit with his changes-approach where it makes you wonder what his compass is now.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I didn't get that feeling from Blough's presser. He definitely has a vision for JD and the offense. DQ could have influence in it or they at least see much more eye to eye than DQ did with Kliff

I've watched other interviews now from Blough.

Seems like in short Quinn decideed he wants more of the Kyle-Ben Johnson style offense. Play action off of outside zone, motion. And Blough is all in to that scheme.

 

[DWinzit]

I've watched other interviews now from Blough.

Seems like in short Quinn decideed he wants more of the Kyle-Ben Johnson style offense. Play action off of outside zone, motion. And Blough is all in to that scheme.

Agreed that he is all in on that scheme. He came across excited to get JD under center to open up so much more opportunity for him to shine. It's what many of us and many analyst were screaming last year. I didn't take it that Blough felt that way due to DQ, instead that they both would like to see that.

 

[Chris 44]

Agreed that he is all in on that scheme. He came across excited to get JD under center to open up so much more opportunity for him to shine. It's what many of us and many analyst were screaming last year. I didn't take it that Blough felt that way due to DQ, instead that they both would like to see that.

The other point that was brought up was how much we were in no huddle/hurry up last year and that it got to the point that it was so predictable that defenses countered it quite easily for the most part and used the rule book to slow things down. When that happened it flustered our offense and led to us hurrying the play. The stat I heard was we ran no huddle 60% of the time as opposed to 20% league wide. Also makes me wonder if the no huddle was a bit of a detriment to the younger WRs and TEs who possibly could have benefited from being in a huddle and receiving a more detailed call prior to breaking the huddle, Sinnott came immediately to mind when thinking about this.

 

[DWinzit]

The other point that was brought up was how much we were in no huddle/hurry up last year and that it got to the point that it was so predictable that defenses countered it quite easily for the most part and used the rule book to slow things down. When that happened it flustered our offense and led to us hurrying the play. The stat I heard was we ran no huddle 60% of the time as opposed to 20% league wide. Also makes me wonder if the no huddle was a bit of a detriment to the younger WRs and TEs who possibly could have benefited from being in a huddle and receiving a more detailed call prior to breaking the huddle, Sinnott came immediately to mind when thinking about this.

Kliffy is going back to school to get his masters at McVay U in hopes of shedding some of that predictability factor. All he really needed to do was read threads in BGO

Good points on some of the negative effects the abnormally high amount of quick or no huddles caused to the offense. It also surely I'll affected our D but Kliffy just didn't seem to care. I mean the D already started with less talent than many defenses, then came all the injuries yet KK just continued calling plays in the same quick paced format.

 

[Bulldog]

I think one thing that Blough brought to the strategy discussion with Quinn and Peters was commitment to use Jayden Daniels in a way that maximizes his time on the field and his career longevity, to the degree a team can help a player in a league where guys can get hurt in walk throughs.

In response my guess is Blough told Quinn and Peters to do that he was going to need a major upgrade in talent at the skill positions on offense so Daniels didn't have don a Superman's cape each Sunday to be productive and put up points.

I think Quinn and Co. made that an affirmative that the changes are going to be made.

I agree with some of the other posters that you are going to see major personnel changes and in free agency I think the goal has to be bottom line production, if we can bring in a strong #2 receiver who has 1A upside if Terry misses a game or two that is one of the priorities along with getting a backfield hitter like a Kenneth Walker who with quickness and inside/out ability will take over as the possession and red zone 'go to' player for us. A veteran third down receiving back would be nice as well.

I also see a pass receiving tight end coming to DC. I don't like the Pitts camp likely ask for salary at the position but there are several veteran tight ends that will likely be available that can upgrade what we can do in the middle of the field.

But again I think Quinn and Co. had to offer Blough greater resources to get the job done.

 

[burgold]

I think we all want to see Daniels transition from a running QB to a QB that can run.

 

[Commander Wraith]

Maybe totally projecting here, but my guess is that Quinn initially had no issue with the theory of Kliff as OC. His ability to get Jayden comfortable early on (via some college concepts, creativity and RPOs), the uptempo stuff (to help pre-snap reads and stress defenses), etc.
Yes, the end results wound up in Daniels having an excellent rookie year, but it also led to leaning on Daniels as a runner (and not our rbs as much), an offense that was difficult to transition new players into, wasted TOs as defenses subbed, etc. Not to mention the QB and back as essentially stationary targets.

Lot of people called BS on Quinn’s comment about practicing against this offense, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a lack of practice vs motion, under center looks, and perhaps more common/standard NFL routes and route combinations had an impact. Maybe I’m being naive here though.

Point being, I’m not sure that hiring Blough was about Quinn being able to dictate the offensive scheme, having a specific offense in mind, wanting a yes man in place, or wanting to either slow the offense down or be a smash mouth/ground and pound style of offense.

Right or wrong, I think he believes he found a smart, experienced (in terms of different systems), up-and-coming coach that pretty much checked all the boxes. The one big shortcoming was the lack of playcalling experience of course (and not having an offense in place), but I think that risk (for Quinn) was outweighed by the other things, including his negative experience with letting young talent leave the building, and being able to give Daniels some continuity (including allowing for a smoother transition).

It’s not all puppy dogs and rainbows, and there are a lot of valid questions that have been raised, I’m just saying maybe we’re being a bit harsh in judging Quinn’s decision-making, in terms of hiring/“firing” Kliff, but also in hiring Blough. 🤷‍♂️

 

[skinsinparadise]

Maybe totally projecting here, but my guess is that Quinn initially had no issue with the theory of Kliff as OC. His ability to get Jayden comfortable early on (via some college concepts, creativity and RPOs), the uptempo stuff (to help pre-snap reads and stress defenses), etc.
Yes, the end results wound up in Daniels having an excellent rookie year, but it also led to leaning on Daniels as a runner (and not our rbs as much), an offense that was difficult to transition new players into, wasted TOs as defenses subbed, etc. Not to mention the QB and back as essentially stationary targets.

Lot of people called BS on Quinn’s comment about practicing against this offense, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a lack of practice vs motion, under center looks, and perhaps more common/standard NFL routes and route combinations had an impact. Maybe I’m being naive here though.

Point being, I’m not sure that hiring Blough was about Quinn being able to dictate the offensive scheme, having a specific offense in mind, wanting a yes man in place, or wanting to either slow the offense down or be a smash mouth/ground and pound style of offense.

Right or wrong, I think he believes he found a smart, experienced (in terms of different systems), up-and-coming coach that pretty much checked all the boxes. The one big shortcoming was the lack of playcalling experience of course (and not having an offense in place), but I think that risk (for Quinn) was outweighed by the other things, including his negative experience with letting young talent leave the building, and being able to give Daniels some continuity (including allowing for a smoother transition).

It’s not all puppy dogs and rainbows, and there are a lot of valid questions that have been raised, I’m just saying maybe we’re being a bit harsh in judging Quinn’s decision-making, in terms of hiring/“firing” Kliff, but also in hiring Blough. 🤷‍♂️

Yeah I'd agree with the point on Blough. They more I've read-heard, it comes off that he thought from almost the jump that Blough is the next hotshot wiz kid type offensive coordinator and wanted to give him that shot to show it.

Listening to Quinn on Sheehan, he came off better in that setting to me than his press conferences. My takeaway is he knows he's in a big prove it season but he considers himself a risk taker and if he goes down he'd rather go down swining.

All of that and the vibe I got from the Quinn-Peters press conference makes me think they are going to very aggressive for a change this off season.

 

[SkinsLife]

Quinn as a coach is an equivalent in QBs to a Stroud or Baker Mayfiled. Limited but can succeed when everything around him is clicking fully. As soon as any adversity hits though... which tit always does... he falls apart. You cant win consistently with a coach like that.

 

[method man]

Quinn as a coach is an equivalent in QBs to a Stroud or Baker Mayfiled. Limited but can succeed when everything around him is clicking fully. As soon as any adversity hits though... which tit always does... he falls apart. You cant win consistently with a coach like that.

You are basically calling him a mid coach, which is what he is

 

[SkinsLife]

You are basically calling him a mid coach, which is what he is

And there in lies the problem. Mid coaches get to the playoffs here and there. Great coaches get to the superbowl. Sadly We’re not getting to the superbowl with Quinn.

 

[KDawg]

I’ve talked about this before, but Daniels has used his legs for the entirety of his playing career. Significantly. I posted the pass: run ratio before and don’t have the numbers handy, but the least reliant on the run that he has been has been under Kingsbury, and I believe (going off memory…) it’s 3.4 passes: 1 run.

Changing Daniels game will require a TON of support.

He NEEDS a top end running back. Receiver wise he could definitely use high end weapons, but finding reliable ones is also a very viable alternative. Guys like OZ, Burks, etc.

Those guys can make plays and it seems as if he can trust them. He has Terry. So good start.

But Daniels and Mariota’s legs opened a lot of our run game. Being less reliant on them will make it harder for our current backs.

If they are truly committed to getting Daniels to be more of a pocket passer and increasing his pass : run ratio, they NEED to add a running back with great vision who can create space with leverage and accelerate.

Despite some people thinking I am against Bill… I am not. I just don’t want to try the experiment with him as our number 1 back. He has mediocre at best vision, mediocre as a receiver, below par as a pass catcher, below par in using leverage, but is elite speed. A lot of those skills can improve and Bill has a ton of developmental space. I want him on the roster. I’m excited for his future and as a vital part of our strategy.

But to me, a back that can create and take attention is the best thing we can do for Daniels.

And a reliable tight end.

This is Quinn and Blough’s challenge as it pertains to Jayden. And changing his game. And yes, it IS changing his game.

He’s a great passer and a great runner. The runner part aids the passer part and vice versa. He is capable of being a pocket guy, but it’ll take development and adjustment.

This is the challenge with Quinn and Peter’s thought process. They drafted Daniels with the intent on changing the way he plays - square peg, round hole - due to health concerns that stem from his size. So, if your intent was to change him, I don’t understand why they’d take him.

Reducing it is different and I am good with it. But we need to see its implementation before I let Quinn off the hook on his decision making.

 

[HTTR]

And there in lies the problem. Mid coaches get to the playoffs here and there. Great coaches get to the superbowl. Sadly We’re not getting to the superbowl with Quinn.

 

[Conn]

View attachment 14122

#KyleShanahanMerchant

 

[HTTR]

#KyleShanahanMerchant

Man it’s as if he only gets credit for his coordinators when they fail. Anyway, I’m not claiming he’s a great coach. His record does say he’s mid. Just seems strange to say you can’t go to the Super Bowl with a guy who’s been to the Super Bowl.