Morning Open Thread: Talk Dan Quinn

[Xfactor]

Thanks Tuggle for your Late Night Open Thread Talk Falcons great idea for off season banter. I've had something on my mind and that's Dan Quinn on the sidelines calling a game.

We all went through the Smith regime had great success but watching him call a game sometimes I wonder how we were that successful.

Back to Quinn

Very articulate will he be able to connect with the team and fire up the the players before the game or will he be more laid back with a workman like approach ?

Will he successfully make half time adjustments on both sides of the ball.

Seems to be a quick thinker will he be a gambler or frustratingly conservative in his first year. 4th and 1 game on the line what will the rookie HC do ? Oh and don't forget timeouts

How do you see Quinn during the game ? Involved with the team coaching up the D, being in the huddle with Shanahan and Ryan or more hands off letting his coaches call the game ?

For me I can't wait to see how aggressive he is and when he has a lead how will he handle the game as a HC .

What say you ?

[Mid-Nite-Toker]

He has a 3 year grace period to define himself.

I hope he is the answer.

[vafalconfan]

Well one big difference is that Quinn will not only coordinate the defensive game plan, but he will call the plays on gameday. I think that's just what we need. Shanahan and Ryan will have the offense. I think his intensity and honest approach to the pro game makes his players not want to fail him.. That's another way of saying he exudes "leadership"!

[Atlfanstckndenver]

Does anybody know if Quinn WILL call the plays? I hope so personally.

[Monolith2001]

Does anybody know if Quinn WILL call the plays? I hope so personally.

I actually hope he doesn't. He is the head coach and needs to oversee the entire game. Don't get me wrong, if he has a problem with what is being called, he should have authority to go with what he thinks will work but we need a head coach, not a high priced DC. He should have a clear plan vision of how the D works communicated to the DC and assistants so he can manage the entire game. Shanahan will run the O but DQ should be in charge and should not be afraid to use his knowledge of defense to challenge what Kyle may be calling.

[AtlantaFanatic]

There is no way that we can accurately speculate his effectiveness as a head coach. It's the first time he's been in this position and he's just as likely to be terrible as he is to be the best coach this franchise has ever had and brings us 5 SuperBowls.

I will say that I am very optimistic though. He's talking the talk the right way and the players seem to love him which is a big deal. If the coach makes you want to go out and give it your best everyday, there's a better chance that you will have a successful team. My favorite thing about Quinn so far is his decisiveness. He doesn't waffle or give me a feeling that he doesn't know what he is doing. I think he's been preparing for this moment for a long time and he's ready to shine.

[takeitdown]

It seems clear that the teaching, developing, and using people for what they can do is something Quinn should excel at. And that will make a large difference in terms of how guys develop, and how much talent our team seems to have over time.

What is completely unclear is how aggressive he'll be on 4th down, how aggressive he'll be when up 10 points...most defensive coaches are very "safe" in their calling, but Quinn seems a little more aggressive in general. I hope so.

The other part we'll have no idea on until the bullets fly is whether he's good at week to week and game to game strategy. There are coaches who make players better, and are great weekly coaches, and then there are gameday coaches. We'll hope he's both, but I have zero clue whether he'll be able to be strategic on the fly (a la Belichick).

It should be exciting to find out.

[shock]

Whether Quinn calls the plays on defense or not I think it's foolish to say a head coach shouldn't call the plays on either side of the ball. It's certainly not unheard of in the league and to suggest doing so makes it harder to have a clear game plan for the entire team is just silly. Imagine the chess match of the Saints/Falcons rivalry going to new heights with two head coaches literally calling plays against each other.

[B_Lo_Touchdowns]

Quinn can't be HC, involved in the Defense and Call Plays all at the same time. He has to be hands off and let the coaching team do their jobs or the team will suffer.

[The O.D.B]

Defensive side of the ball:

When I was 1st learning and reading about the 4-3 under I ran across an article that used Seahawks games to explain many of the concepts. It showed some screens of a game against the 9ers and showed how the 9ers shifted their offense to a style that can exploit the seattle 4-3under and they started moving the ball at will. The hawks shifted to some sort of bear defense to counter what the 9ers were doing and shut down their offense for the rest of the game. I believe the article was from the year before Quinn took over but, you can bet he was involved with the decision. It will be nice to see us shifting into defenses that work instead of a 4-2.

Offensive side of the ball:

I believe Quinn will just sit back and smile as he watches Shanny and Matt trash other teams defenses. I believe shanny much like Belly-check will have no issue at all putting a 50 burger on someone. Conservative won't be associated with the offense as long as he's here. Our average points per game which has been creeping up by a point or two per year is getting ready to take a nice jump

[FalconFanSince1970]

I think Quinn will be a dam good head coach. He was on my short list with Rex and Bowles. Like all coaches Quinn will make some mistakes. Even the best do. Remember the BillyCheck 4th down call?

With that said, we should be cautiously optimistic. He could come in here and coach up .500 ball and get run off. Remember when Nolan came in as our defensive savior? Used smoke and mirrors his first year and became a TATF coaching god. Fell apart the next two years and got the TATF boot.

[TheFatboi]

Quinn calling the defensive plays will be difficult. It's not easy. I remember Rex getting flack because he said he missed some offensive plays because he was working with the defense. He only got flack because It was "Rex" openly talking about it but other head coaches that have tried this have had the same thing happen. Marvin Lewis, Todd Bowles when he was interim HC of the Dolphins and some other notable coaches. That is no easy task. To do that he will have to give shanny the full reigns of the offense and trust him to handle it. A HC needs to manage the team. That will be his delima and he's still undecided if he will call the defensive side of the ball for these very reasons. It's alot different for an offensive HC to call the plays than defense because defenses have to make so many adjustments to what an offense is doing. He's gonna need his coaches to do their jobs and trust them and if need be take over defensive play calling if the DC isn't stopping an opponent.

[likeriver]

I would be happy to see Quinn keep the offense high octane throughout the game. Even under 2013 and 2014, our team was one of the most explosive coming out of the gate, but it seemed like we almost always stalled in the second half. This probably had something to do with good initial game plan followed by poor in-game adjustments. If Quinn could somehow keep that momentum from the first quarter to carry over into the rest of the game, the Falcons would be one of the most dangerous opponents.

[FentayeJones]

Quinn is going to go though some growing pains being a first time head coach but judging by his initial preparation, football knowledge, his ability to get the most out of players and his energy and enthusiasm he will ultimately be a successful coach. He also has some very experienced and knowledgeable guys on his staff he can lean on for advice when needed.

[Guest Negatorris]

He's a rookie head coach so I fully expect mistakes this upcoming year, but he will learn quickly and do what he needs to for us to win games.

[FentayeJones]

Does anybody know if Quinn WILL call the plays? I hope so personally.

He was on a coaches round-table recently and he stated that he hasn't decided whether he was going to call the defensive plays or not. Marvin Lewis was on the round-table also and advised him not to.

[Guest Negatorris]

He was on a coaches round-table recently and he stated that he hasn't decided whether he was going to call the defensive plays or not. Marvin Lewis was on the round-table also and advised him not to.

I would never take advice from Marvin Lewis. He's lucky to still have a job.

[TeamPlayer1]

I am high on Quinn because he knows how a successful 2015 defense works and the skill set the players need to implement that defense. Yes, I know he can't change everything at once but the current players he retains will be a fit. His complex rotating defense is built upon simple assignments for the players.

[TheFatboi]

I would never take advice from Marvin Lewis. He's lucky to still have a job.

Marvin Lewis is a great example of a coach to get advice from. To even be a HC as long as he has while coaching 2 different qb's to the playoffs and overcome the obstacles he has is a great accomplishment. Smitty didn't even last as long as he has. And the advice was on calling the defense while trying to manage the team. It's very difficult and you can miss offensive plays as Rex Ryan has stated, Todd Bowles stated it at the round table and also Arizona's HC. Each coach just has to find his comfort zone style of coaching but calling the defense is very difficult. Moreso than an offensive minded HC that calls the offensive plays.

[Mr. Lubba Lubba©]

How much have we heard from our DC (I forget his name right now) that makes anyone think he'll be calling plays? I see a lot of interviews with Kyle Shanahan, but the last interview with the DC (looks like his name is Richard Smith) is from 3 months ago and it basically has him being asked if he's going to be calling plays, to which he says he doesn't care who calls plays and he's not going to have an ego about it.

Right now, Quinn is assessing the workload and going to get a feel for whether or not he can call plays as well as manage the game. Right now, based on hearing everything about our defensive plans and players from Quinn and not a peep out of our DC, I think it'd be foolish at this point in time to assume Quinn won't be calling plays.

[RING OF HONOR]

I think calling a defensive game as a head coach would be a little more difficult than calling an offensive game..that being said..Im sure he will help put together the game plan since its his defense..and he chose coaches that share his philosophy and knows what he likes to do in certain situations..I have no doubt that if there are some questionable calls..he will get in the mix and straightened things out

[TheFatboi]

I think calling a defensive game as a head coach would be a little more difficult than calling an offensive game..that being said..Im sure he will help put together the game plan since its his defense..and he chose coaches that share his philosophy and knows what he likes to do in certain situations..I have no doubt that if there are some questionable calls..he will get in the mix and straightened things out

It most definitely is for a HC especially.

[FentayeJones]

I would never take advice from Marvin Lewis. He's lucky to still have a job.

I think a coach like Marvin Lewis would be an excellent guy to get advice from. He has experienced both the highs and lows of coachng and came up through the ranks kind of similar to Quinn (Position coach, D corrdinator on SB winner, Defensive minded HC). Edited May 21, 2015 by FentayeJones

[sonnyjim]

It seems clear that the teaching, developing, and using people for what they can do is something Quinn should excel at. And that will make a large difference in terms of how guys develop, and how much talent our team seems to have over time.

What is completely unclear is how aggressive he'll be on 4th down, how aggressive he'll be when up 10 points...most defensive coaches are very "safe" in their calling, but Quinn seems a little more aggressive in general. I hope so.

The other part we'll have no idea on until the bullets fly is whether he's good at week to week and game to game strategy. There are coaches who make players better, and are great weekly coaches, and then there are gameday coaches. We'll hope he's both, but I have zero clue whether he'll be able to be strategic on the fly (a la Belichick).

It should be exciting to find out.

Photo from 1st minicamp: Quinn in sweats with sparring mitts on, teaching rookie DLinemen hand usage. A happy warrior.

[PokerSteve]

There is no way that we can accurately speculate his effectiveness as a head coach. It's the first time he's been in this position and he's just as likely to be terrible as he is to be the best coach this franchise has ever had and brings us 5 SuperBowls.

I will say that I am very optimistic though. He's talking the talk the right way and the players seem to love him which is a big deal. If the coach makes you want to go out and give it your best everyday, there's a better chance that you will have a successful team. My favorite thing about Quinn so far is his decisiveness. He doesn't waffle or give me a feeling that he doesn't know what he is doing. I think he's been preparing for this moment for a long time and he's ready to shine.

Agree with all your points. Quinn is a dynamo and I think the players have already begun to feed off his energy. By the time the regular season starts, I think he'll have our defensive unit eating broken glass and running through brick walls.

I too love Quinn's decisiveness, especially because his decision is to attack, relentlessly on offense, defense and ST's. In games, I think we'll see Quinn always going for the kill, not for the tie, but conversely, I don't see Quinn going on 4th and 1 at his own 29 yard line either. He strikes me as someone with plenty of competitive fire and aggression, but also very calculating. We won't see Quinn giving away games with clownish miscues on the sidelines.

As far as preparedness, from what I've read, he has been readying himself for a HC job for years now, right down to already having contacted and/or established a relationship with the coaches he knew he'd want on his staff. From his first coaching hires to the FA's he brought in, to the draft, to the first meetings and work-outs, there is plenty of evidence already that Quinn is more than ready for this challenge. I'm feeling more confident about this team's roster and direction than ever before. Quinn is going to get this team back to the SB. There, I said it.