Dan Quinn Reveals 'Flashing Light' That Led to Commanders Job

Dan Quinn has revealed the key indicators that factored into his decision to want to become Washington Commanders head coach.

Sometimes in life, timing is everything, and for new Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn, the timing was just right.

Having been a head coach with the Atlanta Falcons and leading them to the now-infamous Super Bowl, Quinn then became the Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator. 

It was there that he transformed the defense into one of the best in football. But the desire to be a head coach remained and after back-to-back years of interviews for several positions, Quinn finally landed the Commanders job.

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However, there were a couple of key markers that Quinn was looking for when assessing his options, and in the nation's capital, the Commanders hit all of them.

“I thought coming in as a coach who has done it before, I knew then what I was looking for," Quinn said. "After you've been through the experience, you want to make sure that you can align it exactly like you want to do to go kick ass. And so, that's what I was looking for, specific markers, because if I wasn't going to find them then I wasn't going to do it. I desperately wanted to, but if the markers weren't in line to say, ‘Hey, this alignment between ownership, general manager, the club.’ I wouldn't have.

"So when this one was here, it was please call because this one is different. This franchise has a historic mark on the NFL and so that was different. I knew that was different. Once I knew ownership, I knew general manager, organization, like everything checked and so it was the one that was a flashing light to me that this is the moment, this is the one.”

With Quinn now signed, sealed, and delivered, the coaching changes are now completed as Kliff Kingsbury replaces Eric Bieniemy as the offensive coordinator after just one season.

Attention now turns to the NFL Draft where some have made the connection between Kingsbury and USC's Caleb Williams and given that Washington holds the No. 2 pick, if we put two and two together, it seems straightforward.

Exactly which way Quinn, general manager Adam Peters, and other Commanders hierarchy want to go in the draft is unknown, but a quarterback seems like the logical choice.

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Quinn had his fair share of coaching interviews over the past couple of seasons but passed to remain as Cowboys defensive coordinator. But it wasn't until the "flashing light" of the Commanders organization made the job more enticing.

It is a new era in Washington and one that will be led by Quinn as the organization begins the long road of transforming itself into a contender.