Washington Commanders Hire Former Cowboys DC as Head Coach

Getty Dan Quinn staring ahead.

The Washington Commanders seem to have their new head coach. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Commanders are expected to hire Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as the team’s next head coach. Quinn gets another chance at a head coaching job and hopes to turn a Washington franchise around after a few disappointing seasons.

This decision doesn’t come as a surprising one after Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson announced that he was going to return to Detroit and attempt to win a Super Bowl in the 2024-25 season. It’s expected that Johnson’s going to be one of the hottest names on the market next season and with potential openings as there are every offseason, look for him to land a gig.

According to Steve Wyche of NFL Network, Quinn’s expected to bring along Joe Whitt.

What Dan Quinn Brings to The Commanders

Dan Quinn is one of the top defensive minds in football. That was evident during his stint with the Dallas Cowboys. As their defensive coordinator in the past three seasons, the Cowboys were a combined 5th in points, 7th in yards, and forced 93 turnovers, which led the NFL in that span.

The Commanders were the worst defensive team in football last season, allowing more than 30 points per game, nearly four more than the next closest team. The defense lost two of its best players in Montez Sweat and Chase Young, which didn’t help.

Jonathan Allen doesn’t want to be a part of a rebuild, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, making next season even more difficult.

“I’ll go Jonathan Allen. Washington’s Pro Bowl defensive tackle is not overly eager to withstand another rebuild, and I’ve heard that has been the case for a while now. Teams called on Allen’s availability at the trade deadline, but Washington wasn’t interested. It’s probably worth the Commanders — who could strip things down to the studs with a new coach and general manager pairing — looking into his value. His salary of $14 million (cap hit of $21.5 million) is reasonable for a player of his caliber.”

Quinn has issues that he needs to figure out on the defensive side of the football, but as a defensive-minded coach, he does at least bring knowledge and a scheme that should help.

Mike Vrabel and Bill Belichick Without a Job

Perhaps the most surprising news of the day is that Mike Vrabel and Bill Belichick will be without a job.

Vrabel is known as one of the top minds in the game and Belichick is arguably the greatest coach of all time.

It was revealed that the Commanders didn’t have interest in Belichick and that the surprise of the coaching search was Vrabel not getting many interviews. Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports reported the concerns about Belichick.

“They have concerns about everything from Belichick’s age (71) to his willingness to work under a GM who will have control over personnel, to whether he’d even want to take on what could be a years-long rebuilding job.”