Getty Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn.
Even at the highest level of football, NFL teams are on the lookout for bulletin-board material. In terms of motivational tools it can be pretty useful in the right situations.
For the Washington Commanders and their brand-new coaching staff, they can print off a copy of ESPN’s NFL coaching staff rankings released on Aug. 22, where he put the Commanders 31st out of 32 teams.
The only group the Commanders were ahead of was another team led by a first-year head coach with the Las Vegas Raiders and head coach Antonio Pierce.
The Commanders have a new head coach in Dan Quinn, new offensive coordinator in Kliff Kingsbury and new defensive coordinator in Joe Whitt Jr.
The Kansas City Chiefs were ranked No. 1 after winning back-to-back Super Bowls.
The Philadelphia Eagles had the highest-ranked coaching staff in the NFC East at No. 15.
“Quinn is a players’ coach, and he has a system he has run into the ground — he knows the ins and the outs of it, and he can get it on the field quickly and cleanly,” ESPN’s Ben Solak wrote. “The problem is every good offensive coordinator in the league knows how this defense works — four down, zone coverages, certain checks against certain formations — and can find success accordingly. Quinn’s ‘line up and play fast’ approach can work with a souped-up roster like the one enjoyed in Dallas, where stars such as Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland could line up and beat the guy across from them. In Washington, where the defensive roster is really thin? The Quinn shtick won’t work as easily.”
Quinn’s Career Defined by Super Bowl Meltdown
Unfortunately for Quinn, he’s found it hard to shake off what’s become the defining moment of his 30-year coaching career — a 34-28 loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI when Quinn was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons led 28-3 midway through the third quarter before allowing 25 unanswered points and losing in the first Super Bowl to go into overtime. Quinn was Atlanta’s head coach for 6 seasons before he was fired after an 0-5 start in 2020.
It’s the only time Quinn has been a head coach in his career, which stretches back to when he was the defensive line coach at William & Mary in 1994.
Kingsbury’s Success Has Come as Coordinator
The majority of Kingsbury’s success throughout his career has come as a quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator.
Kingsbury has worked directly with five Heisman Trophy winners: Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. Mayfield, Murray and Williams all went on to become No. 1 overall picks.
Even with all those names, Kingsbury’s greatest protege now stands above all of them — he was the head coach at Texas Tech who recruited and developed three-time Super Bowl champion and two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes.
What holds Kingsbury back is his time as a head coach, where he’s never been a winner. In 10 seasons as a head coach — 6 at Texas Tech and 4 with the Cardinals — he has an overall record of 63-77.
“I love the vibes in the room — Quinn, Kliff and Whitt all get along well with the fellas,” Solak wrote. “But schematically, this is as stale of a room as I can remember.”
