Mike Smith is a former NFL coach of the year, and also the guy who preceded Dan Quinn as the head coach of the Falcons – so if anyone has some insight onto who Quinn is and what took over when he went to Atlanta, it would be Smith.
And he's sold.
"Dan is a very, very good football coach. Guys like to play for him, and he's going to have them playing hard and smart – and when you do that, you have a chance," Smith said. "He's a very, very good defensive mind, and I know he's not gonna be calling the calling the plays, but I'm sure he's gonna have his hands and footprint on the defense. I think it'll be good for Washington because he's a good football coach, and he said he felt like he's learned a lot his first time around."
Smith is a defensive coach by nature but did not call his plays as a head coach, choosing to let his coordinators do that work the way Quinn will here in DC.
Of course, it's a results-based business, and when it comes to reputation, yes, Quinn is a second-time head coach, and sometimes, his Dallas defenses have not lived up to expectations, but the results are there.
"What he has done with that defense is pretty spectacular, and it's been fun to watch," Smith said. "He'll have his fingerprints all over that in DC, and Joe Whitt has been with him in two places, so it's great to see Joe getting an opportunity to be a defensive coordinator, and it's a good partnership for Dan to pass that off to someone that he's very comfortable with."
Smith has been out of the NFL since 2016, and looking from the outside in, there have been major fundamental changes in the way the game is played – including in terms of technology and meetings – but Smith thinks Quinn is up to the challenge.
"The way that the guys take in information is completely different now; you don't stand up on a chalkboard or grease board and put the game plan in anymore, it's on a laptop or tablet," Smith said. "Players are different and coaches have to adjust to the players and the way that you communicate with them, and I think Dan's probably learned a learned a lot. He's a players' coach and has always been, and players love to play for him."
And what does he say about Grant's adamant nature about wanting to hire offensive coaches?
"You have a valid point there, and I think a lot of the owners and the decision-makers are in agreement with you, based on hires," Smith said. "The game is driven by the quarterback, and there's no doubt in my mind that to be successful in the NFL, you've got to have a QB that can operate the offense that you've installed. I hired guys in Atlanta that I knew were able to put together an offensive game plan – I hired Mike Mularkey, signed Michael Turner, and drafted Matt Ryan, so in years two, three, and four, we added Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez, and had a more balanced offense. I knew Mike could be very good at creating that mix."
But in Quinn's case, which will be similar to what Smith had with Ryan, how do you build a relationship with that quarterback?
"You spend a lot of time with him; you're not running the offense and you're not running the defense, but you've got to spend a whole lot of time with him," Smith said. "I wanted to be a sounding board for Matt and to make sure that Matt had input, even though he was a rookie, so he could get me thinking about things. It gives you an opportunity to oversee and talk and spend time, and I spent just as much time in the quarterback room as I did the defensive line room when meetings were going on. I just wanted to be seen and hear the game plans as the head football coach. Half the league has a model where the head coach is a play caller, and it's been very successful, but it's a QB-driven league, and you will live and die by how that quarterback plays."
Take a listen to Smith's entire segment above!
