The Falcons didn’t hire Dan Quinn just to coach. They hired him to rescue the franchise. They granted him final say over the 53-man roster. They allowed him to report directly to owner Arthur Blank. On the day he took the job, Quinn became the most powerful Falcons coach since Dan Reeves, who arrived having been a head coach in two cities and taken three teams to the Super Bowl.
By way of contrast, Quinn had never been a head coach. He was a Hot Guy, yes, having served as the ragingly successful defensive coordinator on the NFL’s best team. But still: The Falcons took it on faith that this capable No. 2 would become a crackerjack No. 1 to the extent that they crowned him their king of football.
Thirteen months later, we have to ask: Is King Dan in over his head?
A sobering season – the Falcons started 6-1 and finished 8-8, this collapse coming against the NFL's second-softest schedule – has devolved into a stupefying offseason. Quinn's team has apologized three times for its assistant coaches' behavior at the NFL combine in Indianapolis: Bryan Cox shoved an Arizona scout; Marquand Manuel (whose identity was revealed Monday in Apology No. 3) asked Ohio State's Eli Apple: "Do you like men?"
Cox's shove was silly. Manuel's question was inappropriate and possibly illegal. (The NFL is investigating.) If, as the AJC's D. Orlando Ledbetter has reported, the Falcons might have made similar inquiries of other potential draftees, they could be seen as having violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Meaning: This has the potential to go beyond silly.
Having messed up the combine, the Birds' brain trust returned home and cut the franchise's all-time leading receiver. There were sound reasons for shedding Roddy White – he's 34 and he makes a lot of money and he can't get open the way he once did – but the Falcons mishandled that, too. Center Todd McClure was given a proper sendoff at Blank's palatial Howell Mill offices; White was informed of his termination via text message from Quinn.
Maybe White wouldn’t have sat still for a testimonial – he plans to keep playing, unlike McClure – but the Falcons teed themselves for a popular player to paint himself as the wronged party. Sure enough, White and his agent spent the weekend labeling Kyle Shanahan as The Man Who Ran Roddy Out Of Town.
Quinn has said he didn’t consult Shanahan regarding White, which could be construed as a noble attempt to shield an assistant but — let’s face it — makes no sense. What head coach wouldn’t seek his offensive coordinator’s opinion on such a matter?
Here again, there’s a greater point: Everything this franchise touches still turns to sludge. Who’s now the franchise steward? Dan Quinn.
Call the roll. Shanahan: Hired (and defended repeatedly) by Quinn. Manuel: Hired by Quinn after the two worked together in Seattle. Cox: Twice retained by Quinn after being brought here by Mike Smith.
That’s just the staff stuff. The late-game mismanagement against San Francisco belongs on a separate shelf. The six-game losing streak is a fetid room unto itself. Through it all, Quinn’s insistence on trotting out the same three bromides did nothing to paint him as a visionary.
Counting Thomas Dimitroff, the Falcons employ five men who’ve been NFL general managers. Yet Quinn is regarded as the bell cow. (It’s believed Dimitroff remains GM only because the coach likes him.) Granted, Quinn seemed the greatest hire since Bill Walsh when the Falcons were 5-0, but circumstances have changed, as circumstances will. The Falcons’ ability to adapt has, shall we say, left much to be desired.
This rash of apologies has left a team known for its missteps – from Eugene Robinson arrested to Michael Vick imprisoned to crowd noise fabricated to word of a search firm leaked – looking as clueless as it ever has, which is saying something. And here we note that if any franchise should know that the transformation of able assistant into ace head coach is never a fait accompli, it’s the one that twice promoted Marion Campbell.
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