5 defensive coaches Seattle Seahawks could replace Pete Carroll with

Dan Quinn

Let’s bring Dan Quinn home! Quinn was a very successful defensive line coach in the NFL from 2003 to 2010 (Quinn was with Seattle in 2009 and 2010) and then left to go coach for a college team for two years. But he returned to Seattle to be the defensive coordinator in 2013 and in two seasons as DC with the Seahawks he led arguably the greatest defense in NFL history.

Yes, Quinn had great players to work with but he still put those players in the best positions to succeed, something Seattle’s current DC seems to have no clue how to do. Quinn left to become the Atlanta Falcons head coach in 2015 and was there until 2020. Quinn took Atlanta to one Super Bowl.

Quinn’s first three seasons as a head coach were far more successful than his last three. But Atlanta also suffered losses of good players in free agency and key players got hurt. Still, his overall record was 43-42.

But here’s the thing with Quinn. He wasn’t just a good DC because of his players. He took over the Dallas Cowboys defense this season and has made them much better even though Dallas has suffered some injuries along the defensive line.

Last year, the Cowboys were 26th in quarterback-rating-allowed (100.4), this year they are 3rd (79.8). Last year, Dallas ranked 26th in quarterback hits, this year they are 5th. In 2020, Dallas allowed 29.6 points a game, 28th in the NFL but in 2021 Dallas in 10th-best in the NFL at 22.3.

Quinn does all this while not having the greatest talent but molding his scheme to the players he has. With Seattle, while he would oversee the entire team and likely make a much better hire at offensive coordinator than Waldron, Quinn could help re-work the defense and make them great again. And a great defense wins championships.