The Dallas Cowboys acted swiftly hiring Dan Quinn to be their new defensive coordinator. This decision comes just days after the team announced that the previous DC Mike Nolan and defensive line coach Jim Tomsula had been fired. After interviewing several candidates, including a member of the current staff George Edwards, Joe Whitt the Falcons defensive passing game coordinator, and Carolina Panthers defensive backs coach Jason Simmons, it appears the Cowboys have found their man:
Interestingly, both Whitt and Simmons both have ties to the current Cowboys head coach but to the great relief of most Cowboys fans, this time the organization steered clear of another Mike McCarthy hire.
Dan Quinn is a name that many Dallas Cowboys fans recognize and can get excited about. He had tremendous success as the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks team that won XLVIII Super Bowl and came within a single play of winning back to back championships. In addition to his pedigree, the hiring of Dan Quinn also comforts fans who believe his 4-3 style defense is better suited to the Cowboys personnel. Rod Marinelli and Kris Richard‘s defense may have been criticized for being too predictable, but at least the players were comfortable and knew what they were doing. At times, the Dallas Cowboys defense looked completely lost under Mike Nolan with his attempts to be what he described as more multiple.
While hiring Dan Quinn will be a popular choice for most Cowboys fans, as always it impossible to impress everybody. For me personally, I was hoping that the Dallas Cowboys would go in a more youthful direction and try to find the next great defensive coordinator. Still, I can easily get on board with this hire and hope that Quinn was not simply a product of an uber talented Seahawks defense.
Most detractors of Dan Quinn will point to his failures as a head coach, the bad defenses the Falcons fielded during his tenure, and of course blowing the 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI. In reality, he actually had a pretty good run in Atlanta. He inherited a 6-10 team, finished with a winning record, and led his team to back to back playoff appearances and a Super Bowl. In comparison, Jason Garrett never made it past the divisional round of the playoffs and never made it to the playoffs in back to back seasons during his ten years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. The most valid concern about Dan Quinn is how bad the Atlanta Falcons defense was while he was head coach. It is entirely possible that because he had to concentrate on head coaching duties, he could not focus his efforts on the defense which had an adverse effect. Hopefully going back to what he knows best will provide better results for the Dallas Cowboys defense.
The Dallas Cowboys have made a necessary first step by hiring a new defensive coordinator, but improving the defense does not stop with Dan Quinn. The defensive roster is in need of improvement at several positions. From safety to cornerback, linebacker, and defensive tackle, there is no one area that cannot be significantly upgraded. Defense will be a priority in both free agency and the draft but the Dallas Cowboys will have to use their limited resources wisely in order to get this right. Ideally, a good mixture of young talent, savvy free agent signings, and improved coaching will turn the Dallas Cowboys defense from liability to respectability.
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