National Football League

How Dan Quinn turned the Commanders around in one season

Updated Jan. 23, 2025 8:19 p.m. ET

Even though he's a veteran NFL coach, Anthony Lynn still brings a notebook and pen to weekly team meetings.

The Washington Commanders run game coordinator never knows when longtime friend and head coach Dan Quinn will drop a few words of wisdom he might want to reflect on later.

"This stuff doesn't happen by accident," Lynn told FOX Sports regarding Washington's improbable turnaround. "He does a really good job of keeping [the players'] attention and articulating the vision of this brotherhood and trust for one another. And he's constantly emphasizing it."

Last year the Commanders went 4-13, and the team hadn't had a winning record since 2016. On Sunday, Washington will play the Philadelphia Eagles for a berth in the Super Bowl.

"The [Commanders] were viewed as a joke, let's just be honest," said an opposing coach who asked not to be identified. "And in an instant, he got the franchise back on track, winning prime-time games and one win away from winning the Super Bowl."

In his first season of his second stint as an NFL head coach, the 54-year-old Quinn has shown an ability to create fresh messaging and authentically relate to players. He deftly balances a detailed, old-school approach with the communication skills he gleaned from Pete Carroll during his time as defensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks.

"He's the best culture-builder I've seen," Lynn said of Quinn. "When he's done with the NFL, he can just travel and teach people how to build good cultures, because he does that very well. And it just comes so natural to him. It's something he has a passion for. You can see it. And I think that authenticity is what makes guys trust him and buy in so fast.

"He's a damn good X's and O's football coach. But as a culture-builder, he's the best I've been around."

Quinn entered the league over 20 years ago as an assistant for the San Francisco 49ers. Before the start of the 2001 season, then-49ers defensive coordinator Jim L. Mora was entrusted by head coach Steve Mariucci to hire a defensive quality control assistant.

"This guy from Hofstra kept pestering me," Mora told FOX Sports. "Maybe that's the wrong word. He was persistent, and calling me every day, and getting other people to call me. We ended up having a connection through a co-worker of my wife.

"This was probably like a six-week ordeal. And I'd interviewed a bunch of people and hadn't really found a match. I felt like it was a long way to bring a guy. And I didn't know him. I didn't know Hofstra. But I finally flew him out to San Francisco. He had a coat and tie on. He took that coat and tie off, threw it over the chair and got up on the blackboard. And within five minutes I'm going, ‘This is the guy. This guy's special.'"

Mora said the two became good friends, spending late nights game planning. They still talk regularly. Mora, now the head coach at UConn, flew down to visit Quinn soon after he was hired by the Commanders.

Mora noted Quinn's penchant for creating deep relationships with players, which allows him to coach them harder.

"You can only do that if they know that you are personally invested in them," Mora said. "To me, that's exactly who Dan Quinn is. He can coach them hard. He can coach them aggressively because he never gives them a reason to question the authenticity of his intentions."

Jayden Daniels & Dan Quinn have built a winning culture in Washington

Another reason for Quinn's success in Washington has been his ability to bring together an experienced coaching staff that includes two former head coaches in offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and Lynn. The staff also includes a former offensive coordinator in Brian Johnson and two former defensive coordinators in Ken Norton Jr. and John Pagano, and former NFL players Bobby Engram (receivers coach), Darryl Tapp (defensive line coach) and Larry Izzo (special teams coach).

Former Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck got an up-close look at Quinn's detailed approach to team meetings when Quinn was Seattle's defensive line coach.

"Pete [Carroll] was very much about getting the ball out and turnovers," Hasselbeck said. "And every Wednesday morning he would have DQ get up in front of the team with a PowerPoint presentation with still shots of every single ball carrier and the quarterback, showing how he held the ball. Whether it was with one hand or two, the tip of the ball or below his number. All the stuff.

"And with the running back, is his wrist above the elbow or the elbow above the wrist? With wide receivers, is there space between the arm pit and the ball? Pete said it was all about the ball, and DQ literally set the tone in the meeting for the defense and, subconsciously, guys like me on offense. It was like, ‘Wow, I'd never seen someone take this level of detail to how we're going to get the ball out.' He was quick. He was interesting. You just kind of looked forward to it. Some coaches are a human sleeping pill. But he wasn't."

Quinn and the Commanders, of course, have greatly benefited from general manager Adam Peters selecting quarterback Jayden Daniels with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2024 draft. The front-runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year, Daniels has exceeded expectations by playing with an efficiency and poise seldom seen by rookie quarterbacks entering the league.

"He's such a pro," Lynn said about Daniels. "You don't see a lot of rookies come into our league that are professionals right off the bat. I have to take my hat off to Adam Peters and Dan Quinn. They brought in some really cool kids that are mature and professional."

Tom Brady on what makes Jayden Daniels so special

Lynn also singled out Mike Sainristil, a second-round cornerback who helped Michigan win the national championship last season.

"He's like Jayden on defense," Lynn said of Sainristil. "His preparation when he comes to work, his focus and his intent, it's very cool to see. They've been raised right. They were fierce competitors when they were in school, and they just picked up where they left off. Those kids have been unbelievable."

Lynn said while the Hail Mary play that gave the Commanders a late-game win over the Chicago Bears was certainly a boost, a more validating victory was Washington ending Philadelphia's 10-game winning streak with a 36-33 victory in Week 16 — a game in which the Commanders overcame five turnovers.

As Washington gets set to face the Eagles for a third time this season — on the road as heavy underdogs — will Quinn have his team ready to shock the NFL once again?

"We have a saying: ‘Anybody, any place, any time,’" Lynn said. "That's how we feel."

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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