Dan Quinn's Falcons Coaching Tenure All Too Familiar
Pain.
It’s something that Falcons fans have been dealing with the past three seasons, but most importantly for many, many years.
After 2017, the Falcons were not able to reach the postseason, and have had three disappointing seasons to follow. For that, Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff were relieved of their duties earlier this week to try and bring fresh, new life into this hungry franchise.
What people may have forgotten is that this team has been through the same situation before, and it was in 2014 with Mike Smith.
During his time in Atlanta, Smith led the Falcons to multiple postseasons, including an NFC Championship appearance, but towards the latter years of his tenure things did not go well.
Insert Dan Quinn
If you look closely, Quinn was just like Smith, which led to his sudden downfall in Atlanta.
We’re all familiar with the parent that doesn’t discipline you when you mess up. Instead of suffering consequences, you get a pat on the back and the “don’t do it again” talk. That was life with Quinn and Smith as head coaches.
When the Falcons messed up on the field, you never seen any anger from Quinn. He would always clap and pat his players on the shoulder after a mistake. Nobody was held accountable, and at the end of every loss it seemed like Quinn would take the blame for their mistakes.
Last season after their loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Ricardo Allen said that they had to be accountable for their play and for each other. Well, if your own teammates aren’t holding you accountable, and your head coach isn’t calling you out, but instead giving you a thumbs up, then how are you going to fix the problem?
Good Person, Bad Coach
The problem here is that Quinn was a good person, but not a good coach.
We’ve seen multiple players come out and show their support for Quinn, despite the continuous losing. Kaleb McGary, Marlon Davidson, and Keanu Neal are all players that have recently backed up Quinn during this horrendous start to the season.
Nobody is questioning what he brings to the table as a friend or a mentor. But every Sunday, you have to put your personal feelings to the side and start treating everybody the same.
That’s maybe where the disconnect came within Quinn and the players. They fell in love with Quinn the person to the point that they failed to recognize that Quinn the coach wasn’t working out well for the organization.
Do Your Job, And Do It Right
Another thing that Quinn and Smith had in common was that they were both defensive coordinators before taking on the Falcons head coaching job. Everyone knows that the offense has always been prolific, but it’s the defense that will continue to haunt this franchise.
Throughout Smith’s tenure, the Falcons never had a good defense, or good players on the defense to make things work.
Fast forward to Quinn’s tenure, and you could argue that he had the players, but the scheme has never worked in their favor.
Both coaches were brought to this franchise because of their specialty, and both failed to leave their imprint on the team.
Before there was 28-3, it was the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers. Don’t forget the London game against the Detroit Lions.
The Falcons have been accustomed to blowing leads, and neither coach could get it right. You can blame it on the defense not being able to hold a lead, or you can blame the offense on not being able to produce any points late in the game.
Either way it goes, Quinn suffered the same fate as Smith, and now the Falcons are back to square one once again.
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