The Atlanta Falcons firing of Dan Quinn has prompted some speculation that the former Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator could end up back in the Pacific Northwest. During his weekly radio show on ESPN 710 Seattle, Carroll was asked about a potential reunion with Quinn. The Seahawks head coach noted he had not talked with Quinn but stopped short of ruling out bringing back his former defensive coordinator.
“I haven’t even talked to Danny yet, we heard the news kind of leaking out, so I haven’t talked to him yet,” Carroll explained. “I don’t know what he is thinking. My first thought is what’s good for Dan to help him get through this. If there is something we can do to help him, we’ll talk about whatever. That’s a tough deal. He’d be the first to tell you they went 0-7 last year and then went 6-2 in the second half of the season and turned their season around. But they went 0-5 [this season]. That’s hard to live with. Unfortunately, that’s what it comes down to. He’s a great football coach. He’s a terrific person and we love him and all that. So, we wish him the best. It’s a hard time for him.”
Given the Seahawks 5-0 start, it seems unlikely that Carroll would fire Ken Norton Jr. and hire Quinn to take over his old defensive coordinator role. What would be more plausible is Quinn could be hired as an assistant unless he decides to take a break from coaching entirely.
The Seahawks Went to Back-to-Back Super Bowls With Quinn as Defensive Coordinator
The Seahawks defense had the most success under Quinn in 2013 and 2014 with back-to-back Super Bowl appearances. Quinn also had a lot more talent to play with than the Seahawks defense currently has on the roster. There is also the reality that the Falcons had one of the worst defenses in the NFL despite Quinn being the head coach. During his weekly press conference, Carroll was asked again about bringing back Quinn and the Seahawks coach brushed off the question before leaving the door open to the idea.
“Can we give Dan a chance to just try to [deal] with it?” Carroll noted. “I haven’t talked to Danny, yet. I don’t know what’s going on with him. We love Dan and all that. I’ll have to see what’s happening in his world. I’m not even thinking about anything about that right now. This is about him getting reset and balanced. It’s is an enormous, enormous undertaking to let go in a program like that and the profile of all of that. I’m going to try to support him and help him any way I can.”
Carroll on Quinn: ‘He Knows What He’s Doing’
Carroll praised Quinn ahead of the Seahawks-Falcons matchup in 2019. The Seahawks coach discussed some of the qualities that he saw from Quinn that caused him to believe in his abilities.
“I think all of the qualities that you guys have witnessed: The leadership, toughness, the style of play, the effort that the team plays with, utilizing personnel and schemes,” Carroll said, per AtlantaFalcons.com. “All of the stuff that he’s done so extremely well in his past. There’s nothing that says it’s not going to absolutely turn in the direction like you guys have come to know it and he’s expecting.”
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Pete Carroll Reacts to Rumors of a Dan Quinn Reunion With Seahawks