A treat to end the week on the Kevin Sheehan Show – Commanders head coach Dan Quinn jumped on with Kevin one day after his new coordinators spoke to the media for the first time!
Quinn is settling in nicely, and is happy with the staff he has put together – and now it’s time to get down to business with the team itself.
“It’s been a blast to get connected with new coaches and the energy that goes along with building something together,” Quinn said. “The hard part of a moving is obviously, like, there's connections and people that you really enjoy, and generally you always keep up with them, but the other exciting part that goes with it is as you move around, there's really cool spots and different areas and different things that you like. There’s some energy that goes with that too, and you get to meet new people and new experiences, and you get to appreciate those people and experiences, so it’s cool to move around – but I’m certainly not likely to do that again for quite a while!”
Quinn sees DC as a great fan base and wants to make the Commanders ‘really hard to compete against, and create a nightmare for teams to come here and play’ – and what he’s learned over the last 10 years or so has solidified his thought process.
“I wanted to make sure they knew that over the time I left Atlanta and went to Dallas, I had a chance to really dig in and recognize the things that went good and had success, but I also learned from the adversity too,” Quinn said. “Knowing that as I was going into this, I was much stronger for that opportunity, and that’s why I think the ability to connect and do those things probably stood out. I wanted to make sure they knew not only were the lessons learned, they're ready to be applied, and make sure when we're going through it, we don't miss one step as we're going through this.”
One thing we’ve learned since Quinn was hired: he is almost universally loved as a coach, and it seems to be because he cares about all his players and maximizing their talents to succeed.
“I appreciate you saying that, and I don't know if that's all true! I would say there's a lot of things I love about coaching, but the big one is the relationships with the players and the coaches and front office and personnel. I just love being part of a team, man,” Quinn said. “You get those experiences and you max it out together, that's what it's all about. You have these really competitive moments that bring you together and you just get closer and tighter, because it's not just a job; when you're competing at the highest level, there's a loyalty that goes way past job and becomes could be a brotherhood that will connect you forever. Pushing one another to get better is one of the reasons I get good connections – it’s, ‘this guy can help me get better,’ and more than anything, man, I just love those connections and relationships.”
It’s all about connections when you’re going through the tough times, or as Quinn said, ‘seeing what someone is mad of when they get tested to the absolute limits’ – and that’s what builds those bonds.
Now it’s time to build those relationships with those currently on the roster, and when asked about the current players, Quinn noted he met with every player and coach that was already here before doing anything, because getting the lay of the land was ‘job number one’ to learn where to best maneuver as they build for the future.
“We call them profile tapes to find out all the unique things players have, and how we can feature them and what they can do,” Quinn said. “It’s too early to give much of an overview, other than saying I’m still into that space and will be for the next few weeks.”
He also has his experience coaching against the 2023 Commanders offense twice in the second half of the season to fall back on with that side of the ball, where ‘you want to have explosiveness and you want to be physical’ as an identity.
Oh, and the Commanders have a slew of draft picks and a ton of cap space to help build that vision, and Quinn is looking forward to getting the process going.
“Any time you're building a roster, everyone here has a chance to shape the history of franchises, and when you can really nail it, those are the moments that change it,” Quinn said. “You can really shape that through the off-season, and that’s why you work so hard and long hours scouting, because you've got to get that right. We're here to win, and we have to look at every spot, but especially quarterback, because that’s so important in this league.”
And Quinn is confident that the Commanders can ‘recalibrate’ quickly.
“I think that's what finding all these small margins is about - find an edge here, an edge there, what little small margin that you can do, and collectively, what happens is you get better over here and here and here,” Quinn said. “The tighter this team gets, that's when we'll win the fastest, and we'll work hard to do that. The best connected teams are really ready to compete and sharpen one another, and the faster we can do that, the better we'll play.”
Commanders Offseason Evaluation Post NFL Draft