Kyle Shanahan praises Dan Quinn, believes Commanders' future is bright under new leadership

The Washington Commanders are ushering in a new era under new ownership, hiring Adam Peters as their new general manager in January and Dan Quinn as their new head football coach last week. Two names that San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is familiar more than with.

Shanahan’s main focus is on his opponent for the Super Bowl, as he looks to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of Super Bowl LIV four years ago. But at a Super Bowl LVIII press conference in Las Vegas, he was asked about the Commanders hiring his former colleague Dan Quinn.

“I’m so pumped for Dan, I’m so pumped for Washington,” Shanahan said. “Dan’s a hell of a coach, they got a hell of a one. I know they’ve gone through a lot of stuff over these last 20 years, but having AP and DQ is as good as it gets.”

Peters became the Vice president of player personnel for the 49ers in 2017, the same season that Shanahan became the franchise’s head coach. In 2021 Peters was promoted to Assistant general manager, and after three years on the job now takes on the role as GM for the Commanders.

But before Shanahan got his first head coaching gig with San Francisco, he spent the previous two seasons as the offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons, working under then-head coach Dan Quinn.

Quinn was the Falcons’ head coach from 2015 to 2019 before being fired five games into the 2020 season, with himself and Shanahan leading Atlanta to a first-place finish in the NFC South in 2016 with an 11-5 record and an appearance in Super Bowl LI.

“Dan taught me so much in Atlanta, I’m very grateful for how much he’s helped my career and him and Stacey and just what he’s gonna do for their organization. Knowing Adam, knowing Jim, they’re set up very well,” Shanahan said.

Quinn became the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator in 2021 following his stint with Atlanta, leading one of the NFL’s top defensive units in each of the past three seasons before getting an opportunity to become a head coach yet again this offseason. As Shanahan closed things out by speaking on what he learned from Quinn working under him as an assistant.

“I just loved watching how he ran a team, certain things he did on the meetings and stuff. You take things from everybody, but Dan with the way he carried himself, the way he talked to the team was as good as I’ve been around,” Shanahan concluded.

It’s clear that Shanahan believes the Commanders are in good hands with Quinn at the helm, and it will be interesting to see if he can lead Washington to the same heights that his former assistant has now reached with the 49ers. With Shanahan leading San Francisco to their fourth NFC title game and second Super Bowl appearance in his last five seasons.