Stephen A. Smith has harsh criticism of Commanders' hiring Dan Quinn as head coach

As one of millions who witnessed the Dallas Cowboys defense crumble against the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round last month, ESPN host Stephen A. Smith had some harsh criticism for the Washington Commanders for hiring Dan Quinn as their new head coach this week. Despite boasting top-10 defenses in each of his three seasons coaching the Cowboys, Quinn’s unit gave up 48 points to the Packers and it’s that most recent shortcoming that has Smith questioning the Commanders’ choice.

“The last time we saw him was in a playoff game where the Dallas Cowboys defense looked horrific. That was our last vision of him,” Smith said on First Take. “Now obviously he’s improved the defense by leaps and bounds over the years with the Dallas Cowboys, he had the personnel in place. But in moments where it really, really counted they came up short.”

Smith believes Quinn is worthy of another stab at a head coaching job after his time leading the Atlanta Falcons. However, he wishes the coach wasn’t leaving the Cowboys with a sour taste after the Wild Card loss.

“To me, if you’re a divisional rival in the NFC East, for that to be your hire, eh,” Smith said. “It’s not a bad hire. I certainly don’t mean to imply that. But I would much rather prefer Dan Quinn remaining as the defensive coordinator in Dallas and trying to make amends for the horrific performance they put forth.”

Quinn lands second head coaching gig

Quinn, 53, has served as Cowboys defensive coordinator for the past three seasons. Dallas’ defense took a big jump in 2023, finishing as the No. 5 ranked unit in the league. Before joining the Cowboys, Quinn spent five-plus seasons as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Quinn went 43-42, leading Atlanta to a Super Bowl defeat in 2016. The Falcons relieved him of his duties after an 0-5 start to the 2020 season. Quinn famously coached the “Legion of Boom” defense in Seattle, helping lead the Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory in 2013.

Quinn turned down head coaching opportunities last offseason in favor of returning to the Cowboys this past season. He now becomes the 31st head coach in Commanders/Redskins history, succeeding Ron Rivera, whom the organization fired after the season ended. With Quinn hired, all eight head coaching vacancies have now been filled.

Washington appeared to be zeroed in on Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Ben Johnson, scheduled to interview him this week following Detroit’s 34-31 NFC Championship Game loss to the San Francisco 49ers this past Sunday. Johnson informed Washington he was staying with the Lions as they were in the air en route to Detroit.