Quinn, 53, replaces Ron Rivera, whom the Commanders fired after four seasons as their coach and de facto head of football operations.
Alongside General Manager Adam Peters, who was hired in January, and a new ownership group led by Josh Harris, Quinn will help lead a rebuild. It will be a significant undertaking, but the blank canvas is part of the appeal; the Commanders have five draft picks in the first three rounds, including the No. 2 selection, and plenty of salary cap space to retool the roster.
“We’re looking for the best leader for this team,” Peters said during his introductory news conference in January. “… We have set criteria that we’re going to have it be aligned in that vision. And it’s not going to be in a box. It’s not going to be [set on] offense. It’s not going to be [set on] defense. It’s going to be the best leader for this organization.”
Quinn interviewed virtually with the Commanders on Jan. 18, then flew to the D.C. area to interview again Tuesday morning. He left that afternoon without a contract in hand, but as vacancies continued to fill across the NFL, his résumé stood out.
Quinn’s hire came two days after Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who was a top candidate for the Washington job, informed the Commanders and the Seattle Seahawks — the two teams that were, at that point, still in need of a coach — that he would remain in Detroit, two people with knowledge of his decision said. The Commanders learned of his decision while they were en route to Detroit to interview him, one of those people said.
Harris and Peters led Washington’s search for a new coach, with support from consultants Bob Myers and Rick Spielman as well as some of the team’s limited partners. The team interviewed eight candidates: Quinn, Johnson, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, Ravens assistant head coach and defensive line coach Anthony Weaver, Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, former Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Slowik signed a new deal to stay in Houston. The Atlanta Falcons hired Morris, and the Seahawks hired Macdonald.
Quinn boasts 21 years of NFL coaching experience, starting as a quality control coach with the San Francisco 49ers in 2001. After two seasons, he was promoted to defensive line coach, then moved on to the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Seahawks in the same role. (He added the title of assistant head coach in Seattle.) Quinn then spent two seasons as the University of Florida’s defensive coordinator before returning to the Seahawks as their defensive coordinator in 2013.
There, Quinn led Seattle’s famed “Legion of Boom” defense, helping the Seahawks to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances. They won the first handily over the Denver Broncos, then lost to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX.
Quinn became the Falcons’ coach in 2015 and led the team to Super Bowl LI in his second season. Despite leading 28-3 in the third quarter, the Falcons lost to the Patriots in overtime.
The Falcons fired Quinn early in the 2020 season, and he became the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator in 2021. Dallas’s defense, which ranked 28th in scoring and 31st against the run in 2020, improved its rank to seventh and 16th, respectively, and led the league with 34 takeaways in Quinn’s first season. He was honored as the Associated Press’s assistant coach of the year.
Many of Quinn’s former players have lauded him for his leadership and mentorship.
“I think he does a great job of finding ways for you to love the game and finding ways to go around the game,” Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons said in January. “It doesn’t always have to be hard-nosed and ‘I’m the coach.’ I think it’s more of a friendship. We go through what I don’t like, what I do like. He doesn’t just treat me like a player; he treats me almost like a friend. He’s always there for me when I need him, and we’re not afraid to have those hard conversations, whether it’s father to son or player to coach. We have them no matter what.”
Logan Paulsen, a former Washington tight end who is now a Commanders broadcast analyst, spent the 2018 season in Atlanta with Quinn. He remembers it as the most enjoyable season of his 10-year career.
“Just the culture he was able to build,” Paulsen said. “… We’re taking it seriously, but we can enjoy each other and enjoy each other’s time. It all comes from him and his personality.”
After he was fired in Atlanta, Quinn called Paulsen to get his input on what he could have done better as a head coach. Asked whether he has ever had a coach do that before, Paulsen said: “No. Never.”
On the field, Quinn continued to evolve and adjust to his players’ strengths. His defenses in Seattle and Atlanta were known for their heavy doses of cover-one and cover-three shells. In Dallas, Quinn emphasized man coverage and cover-two and found ways to disguise coverages presnap.
Quinn interviewed for multiple head-coaching vacancies the past two hiring cycles but opted to remain in Dallas. In 2023, the Cowboys’ defense finished fifth in total yards, passing yards and points allowed. The Cowboys held opponents to 20 points or fewer in 11 of their 17 games, and they seemed poised for a deep playoff run. But they fell to the Green Bay Packers, 48-32, in the first round.
Quinn’s expertise will be vital in remaking the Commanders’ defense, which became a liability last season with a lackluster pass rush and leaky secondary.
His choice of offensive coordinator could be one of the most important factors in the trajectory of the team. Bieniemy has another year left on his contract, but after a 4-13 finish, the team may be due for a fresh start. For years, Washington has sorely needed an infusion of creativity in its offensive play-calling, but more than anything, it needs stability at quarterback after churning through 14 starters in the past 10 seasons.
Quinn has deep ties to many potential coordinators across the league. One candidate could be Klint Kubiak, the San Francisco 49ers’ passing game coordinator and the son of longtime coach Gary Kubiak. Quinn had success with 49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator in Atlanta, and Peters knows Klint Kubiak from his time in San Francisco and Denver.
On the defensive side, Quinn probably will call plays, but that’s not a certainty; he called plays only part of the time he was the coach in Atlanta. Potential prospects for Washington’s defensive coordinator vacancy include Joe Whitt Jr., the Cowboys’ secondary coach and defensive passing game coordinator, and Joe Cullen, the Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive line coach. (Per NFL rules, Washington is prohibited from interviewing assistant coaches participating in the Super Bowl until after the postseason, and it must interview at least two external candidates who are minorities or women for coordinator roles.)
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