O'Quinn Official: Cowboys Special-Teams Coach Moved To Scouting Department
FRISCO - We reported this coming move back on Dec. 31, and now it's hitting the newspapers as the Dallas Cowboys have shifted Keith O’Quinn from his spot at the special-teams coordinator back to the scouting department, where he worked a decade ago.
O’Quinn's term in charge of special teams could not be deemed a success, and new head coach Mike McCarthy moved quickly to replace him by hiring the highly-regarded John Fassel from the Rams. But O'Quinn does have the trust of people here inside The Star, including personnel boss Will McClay, who will be his supervisor in a role the Dallas Morning News reports will officially allow him the title "director of advance scouting.''
The realities of that job: O'Quinn will travel and watch film of Cowboys upcoming opponents and then provide notes and feedback to McClay and McCarthy.
We said throughout the past Cowboys season that we really didn’t need stats to demonstrate how lousy this club’s special-teams performance was; all we needed was “The Eye Test.”
But now we have at our disposal Rick Gosselin’s highly-respected NFL Special Teams Rankings. And among the values of Goose’s detailed work: it confirms “The Eye Test.”
Somewhat stunningly, Dallas ended up in slot No. 31 ... meaning there was actually a team even worse than the woeful Cowboys, who likely could’ve finished better than 8-8 but for the struggles of head coach Jason Garrett and special-teams boss O’Quinn.
O’Quinn worked as a Cowboys pro scout from 2006 to 2008 and has spent most of the last decade in a variety of staff roles in Dallas.
