If He's Interested, Seahawks Should Bring Back Dan Quinn as Consultant for Rest of 2020

After edging out the Vikings by the skin of their teeth on Sunday Night Football, the Seahawks are 5-0 for the first time in franchise history. But while they should go into their bye week with their heads held high, it’s hard not to look past the glaring red flags that could point to unsustainable success. The biggest one, of course, being the defense in its entirety.

The simple answer to the defense’s struggles are the injuries they’ve suffered and, to a degree, the harsh reality that they’re not talented enough, particularly on the defensive line, to do anything more than what they’ve done thus far: bend, don’t break, and get by.

While Seahawks fans are, understandably, clamoring for the firing of defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr., any such move in the middle of the season likely wouldn’t yield the changes they’re expecting. The only real fixable aspect to the defense may be from a fundamental standpoint, but the personnel and philosophical issues are here to stay no matter who is the defensive coordinator in 2020.

It also shouldn’t be overlooked how well respected Norton is by his players. Letting him go well before the end of the season could ultimately do more harm than good, potentially causing a rift between players and the organization’s higher-ups, most importantly coach Pete Carroll.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Seahawks don’t want to mess with a good thing, even if their historic start to the season should mostly be accredited to Russell Wilson and their high-powered offense.

The aforementioned proverbial pounding of the table for Norton’s firing only accounts for half of the demands of Seahawks fans. The other half is that Norton be subsequently replaced with former Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who was just fired from his head coaching position with the Falcons after starting the season 0-5. For reasons I’ve already touched on, this isn’t going to happen. But it also shouldn’t get in the way of the Seahawks putting the pieces in place to find Norton’s eventual successor.

The Seahawks should absolutely hire Quinn immediately, but as a consultant, rather than a coordinator, for the rest of the year just to get him in the building. Quinn may have suffered some of the lowest of lows since the Falcons’ Super Bowl collapse in 2017, but he’s still one of the better defensive-minded coaches in today’s game and has a great understanding of Carroll’s philosophy. Just having occasional input from him for the remainder of the season still sounds fairly valuable to a defense that could use any help or edge it can get.

Hiring “high-profile” defensive consultants isn’t anything new to the Seahawks, either. In 2017, they brought in Mike Pettine as a consultant before he landed his current job as the Packers’ defensive coordinator. They also haven’t been shy about bringing coaches back, like Norton, and also Gus Bradley in 2018 before he went to the Chargers.

The possibility of a reunion with Quinn feels likely, despite Carroll’s comments earlier this morning.

“I’m not thinking anything about that right now,” Carroll responded when asked about bringing Quinn back.

Prior to that statement, however, Carroll said, “I haven’t even talked to Danny yet... I don’t know what he’s thinking. My first thought is, what’s good for Dan to help him get through this? Like if there’s something we can do to help him, then we’ll talk about it or whatever.”

What this ultimately comes down to is if Quinn is in the right mental space to stay involved with football in 2020. With the disappointment of how his time in Atlanta came to an end and the general craziness and uncertainty surrounding this season, perhaps he would be best served with an extended hiatus from the game until next year.

But if Quinn does want to get back in the game as soon as possible, Carroll seems to be open to it and Seattle would offer him a great landing spot to get back on his feet. Even if he doesn’t make his return in 2020, Quinn would seemingly be first in line for the defensive coordinator role when the team inevitably moves on from Norton in the offseason (unless things drastically change for Seattle’s defense this year), but getting in the building now could give him a head start on regaining a high-impact role with the Seahawks organization.