"But there is nothing I enjoy more than doing hard s--- with good people," Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said during his introductory press conference on Monday. "And these guys here, these are some really good people.
"I can't wait. We'll hit the ground running, there's lots to do. But I want to let you know, man, I've been waiting on this moment and so to be here with you guys today, I cannot wait to get this thing rocking."
And with that, the first offseason hirings by new owner Josh Harris is now pretty close to complete, with Quinn seated between the owner and his new general manager Adam Peters.
For Kevin Sheehan the takeaway from the hour-long press conference was simple: "I liked Dan Quinn yesterday. I did. I didn't know what to expect from that introductory press conference, but I came away really impressed."
Sheehan continued: "What I Iiked from Dan Quinn yesterday, I thought, first of all, as a communicator it was very authentic and conversational. It was not scripted at all. I mean there were scripted comments to begin with but after that, what you got was you got somebody who wasn't scripted. And I always feel like when you're conversational and when you're listening to somebody for the first time and they're more conversational, they're comfortable with being conversational, sometimes it can result in going on too long on an answer or on a topic or maybe even getting a little sidetracked or tangled up a little bit... but I think it's more authentic. I think it's more of a reflection of who that person is vs. when they are very withheld and scripted. That was the first thing that struck me is that Dan Quinn is an off-the-cuff communicator but he comes off as very honest in that effort. I feel like I was listening to a guy yesterday who is very self-aware."
Sheehan admits that there may be some recency bias in praising Quinn's communication style after one press conference in comparison to his predecessor in Washington Ron Rivera, whose style of communication had lost any effectiveness after four seasons.
"But Dan Quinn to me was really impressive," Sheehan continued. "I came away being excited about him being the coach. Legitimately excited about him being the coach.
"He's a leader. He is, I think, kind of a players' coach. And I think sometimes the honest way in which you communicate – even if sometimes it's not the smoothest of communication – works especially in that environment."
Listen to Sheehan's full initial thoughts on Quinn's first impression from the Kevin Sheehan Show on the audio player above!
