Dallas Cowboys point/counterpoint: Keeping Dan Quinn.
What do you hope happens with Dan Quinn?
There is a great deal of responsibility to be assigned for the Dallas Cowboys’ awful performance versus the Green Bay Packers. Dan Quinn, the defensive coordinator, is one target. Not only did his defence resort to Aaron Jones and Jordan Love as wet tissue paper, but it also had equally dreadful performances against the Buffalo Bills, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Arizona Cardinals. It also failed to hold on to the game-winning drive in the Miami Dolphins game and almost failed to do so in the Detroit Lions game.
In spite of this, Quinn will be welcomed back should he not be hired as a head coach somewhere. We examine if that’s really a good idea with our David Howman and Tom Ryle.
Tom: So the team is going with the approach of doing the same thing over next year and expecting it to change. Well, color me skeptical, with some tinges of disgust.
I was not as disappointed in the announcement that Mike McCarthy would get to finish out his contract, because there are some indications that he got some real improvements out of Dak Prescott and the passing game. He did show some concerning tendencies, particularly reverting to more conservative behavior when he faced good teams, but it is still something that could possibly be built on.
There was none of that from the defense under Quinn. 2023 was almost all regression on that side of the ball. Admittedly, there were key injuries that played a part, but other teams take those in stride. Dallas proved very inept in stopping other teams when they could not get turnovers and sacks. Both of those are hard places to maintain consistency, especially taking the ball away. When they failed, losses ensued.
With Johnathan Hankins missing time and Mazi Smith having the typical rookie DT trend of not really emerging for a few years, the run defence was frequently questioned. However, the condition of the linebacker corps was more crucial. After promising youngster DeMarvion Overshown was lost in the preseason, veteran Leighton Vander Esch was placed on injured reserve in the middle of the season. There was nothing done about this. We’re not sure how much of that was Quinn’s insistence that he could finish the task using modified safeties or if management had tied him. It was just a failure, anyway.
I am not at all optimistic Quinn is going to fix anything. I admit, I’m hoping he gets hired away. It is easier to see what needs to be fixed when the problems weren’t of your own creation.
David: I am very much on record that this defense needs to change, much in the same way that last year’s offense needed to change. Which is to say it doesn’t need an overhaul – any time you finish in the top five in defensive DVOA for three straight years, you know you’ve got a good thing going – but there are definitely some tweaks that need to be made.
I don’t have a single shred of doubt that Mike McCarthy and Dan Quinn are not blind to that fact. The question is whether they agree on how those tweaks should look. I do believe that this question will play a role in how Quinn evaluates the head coach jobs he’s interviewing for. Of course the team has come out publicly and said they’d love to have him here next year, but if McCarthy and Quinn ultimately disagree over what changes need to be made, it makes sense for both sides if Quinn takes a promotion elsewhere.
This offseason is the first that Quinn and his defence have confronted a precipice like this; in other years, he has chosen to stay primarily because he thought the Cowboys were headed for greatness. Quinn and McCarthy must agree on what needs to be corrected and how to repair it if Quinn does indeed plan to remain in Dallas until 2024. Furthermore, why would that be harmful? Together, they had a 36-15 record during the regular season.
Tom: You have the right to your opinion, no matter…
OK, I’ll stop with the snark. Look, last year, the 12-5 record looked a lot like it was almost in spite of the defense, not because of it. Just one late stop against the Dolphins would have boosted the total, and there were the three games where the other teams just breezed to big leads. I honestly don’t know just how they need to fix it. NFL coaches should, however. The fact Quinn came up with no answers as the season progressed, plus how his defense looked at its absolute worse in the biggest game of the year doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
Now my fear – OK, concern – is that those other NFL teams are going to see the same thing and cool on wanting Quinn to come in. I do see teams that are looking for a culture change still having some interest, but to me, that would almost have to come with the requirement that Quinn bring in a defensive coordinator who would have real authority, with Quinn focusing on the overall team and letting his assistants handle the heavy lifting in game planning and calling the plays.
I may be affected by my almost total focus on the Cowboys, making the problems magnified in my view. That could be different for those not immersed in everything blue and silver. I certainly hope so. I think it is time for Quinn to move on.
And if his departure didn’t completely turn Dallas around and toward more success, it would at least shake things up a bit. McCarthy would probably feel more at ease if the staff remained together, and I don’t want that. I want him to understand how important it is to make a positive change in the next year, as it will probably determine whether he keeps his job or not. Having Quinn, who he seems to get along well with, won’t accomplish that, in my opinion.
Frankly, I would rather the team cut ties with Quinn already to send a bit of a message. I wonder if they did not do so because they did not want to mess up his chances to get hired elsewhere.
David: Unless something has changed that is not yet public, McCarthy is going to be coaching in the final year of his contract. The last time that happened in Dallas, it resulted in McCarthy having a sleepover with Jerry Jones and telling tall tales about watching every second of footage from the Cowboys’ 2019 season. So if you’re interested in him feeling the pressure, I think that’s already covered.
A year ago, McCarthy bet on himself by taking over the offense, and I think we can agree that he won that bet. Now, though, the biggest area for improvement is out of his control in the sense that McCarthy doesn’t coach defense. But if he felt enough pressure a year ago to take it upon himself to fix the offense, he surely feels as much – likely more – pressure to fix the defense. Naturally, it would make sense for McCarthy to assign that task to someone he trusts, which is why I believe we’ll see either Quinn or Joe Whitt Jr. (whose relationship with McCarthy goes back to Green Bay) calling the defense next year.
Although I really like Wink Martindale, there are other defensive coaches that would be interesting to have in Dallas. However, very few of those coaches have any real familiarity with McCarthy, and even fewer have any familiarity with the players. Understanding your players and their potential can have a significant impact on your team’s performance on the field, as Mike Nolan taught us.
I’d want it to be someone with a track record of working with these men if this team’s future depends on the defense’s capacity to improve the next season. Quinn has already shown he is capable of achieving excellent outcomes. In the event that he is unable to solve the problem, another man is already inside the building. Nonetheless, I believe that McCarthy’s feels he can trust whoever ends up coordinating the defense next year.
Tom: I guess trust is needed. I just worry about not enough changing. We have seen the cautious route play out before, and so long it has been a dead end. I am not going to get my hopes up next year until I see Dallas beat a team like the 49ers – and they will get that and other opportunities.
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