Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Dan Quinn says he’s “dead set” on assuming the role of Defensive Coordinator after firing Marquand Manuel Monday afternoon. During the press conference, Quinn said he considered moving Raheem Morris over to defensive coordinator but concluded he’s the most qualified to call the plays.
More often than not, NFL head coaches call plays. Examples are Sean Payton with New Orleans Saints, Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams and Bill O’Brien with the Houston Texans. However, Quinn will be one of a few coaches that will call defensive plays. Mike Vrabel, Head Coach of the Tennessee Titans calls defensive plays as well.
“More than anything I just really wanted to make sure that the style and attitude that we want to play defensively I really enjoy that part of it and want to be more involved in that way,” Quinn said during Thursday’s press conference. “I thought that was the appropriate to say, ‘Hey, if I’m going to be the one calling it, we certainly want to give you the right to do that.’”
Dan Quinn is familiar with calling plays for Falcon defenses. In 2016, he fired defensive coordinator Richard Smith and Quinn called the defensive plays for the remainder of their run to Super Bowl LI.
Quinn also added “missed the mark” defensively, making no secret some issues with execution were at least partially due to Marquand Manuel. However, the head coach did say he is not on the hot seat heading into 2019.
