The Washington Commanders are the only team other than their rival Dallas Cowboys not reach a Conference Championship game since 1995. The Houston Texans are the only exception but the franchise wasn’t even founded until 2002.
Even coming off a (4-12) season there’s a hope and optimism around the franchise that has been gone for decades. Washington fans endured Dan Snyder running one of the most storied franchises in the NFL into the ground — and nobody — believed he would ever part ways with his beloved team.
But all of the drama, allegations, abuse and dysfunction are now gone — and as soon as the offseason began — new owner Josh Harris took immediate action. He parted ways with former coach Ron Rivera and announced a detailed search would begin, prioritizing a general manager/head of football operations who would then help hire the new head coach.
Roughly five days later, the Commanders struck gold and the fan base was elated when it was announced they hired former 49ers Assistant General Manager Adam Peters, regarded as one of the top evaluators of talent and architects when it comes to assembling a wining team in the NFL. Peters turned down multiple requests to be interviewed this year, and skipped several others before meeting with Washington and inking a deal.
Peters coming to D.C. so quickly aligns with multiple reports saying Washington was the most attractive destination for coaches and GMs this talent cycle for a variety of reasons.
Since his hiring, there have been rumors that Lions OC Ben Johnson is the favorite to land the job — and that’s the kind of candidate this fan base wants. If it isn’t Jim Harbaugh (who has shown no interest), Washington fans want a young smart mind who can also command the respect from players and build a winning culture. Behind Johnson, Texans OC Bobby Slowik is high on the list for Commanders fans, as well as Ravens DC Mike MacDonald although he’s a defensive-minded guy.
Clearly fans want to follow the model of so many successful organizations, from the Rams, to the Packers and 49ers, to the Bengals and Dolphins. Get a young, smart up-and-comer instead of an older retread.
DC Sports Host Will Be “Heart Broken” If Washington Commanders Hire Dan Quinn
On Monday, it was announced that Washington would be conducting its second round of interviews with Dallas Cowboys DC Dan Quinn and Rams DC Raheem Morris.
They have reportedly already interviewed several candidates including Johnson, Slowik and current OC Eric Beiniemy to name a few.
When the news broke on Monday Quinn was coming in for his second interview, Grant Paulsen of the “Grant and Danny Show” on 1067. The Fan in DC went on an epic rant.
“I will be heartbroken if the Commanders hire Dan Quinn to be their next head coach. I will be gut punched. I don’t dislike Dan Quinn; I think he’s a really good leader of men and a good football coach, but someone else should hire him. It’s not a fit here.”
“There are too many really high-end opportunities for them this cycle, with great potential for many years to have some young ascending star coach flourish and be your guy for 15 years than to, in my opinion, settle on Dan Quinn,” Paulsen continued. “Josh Harris, listen up: You bought this thing for $6 billion so you could hand the reins over to Dan Quinn? I would be crestfallen if they hire Dan Quinn. To me, it’s Rivera-ish. Stop me if you’ve heard this before: retread defensive coordinator who got to a Super Bowl that time? No! Don’t do this.”
His co-host Danny, sort of agreed but didn’t feel as strongly if Quinn was named the Washington Commanders next coach.
“I would not feel jubilant,” Danny said. “I wouldn’t be doing spin kicks. It would feel safe, solid, okay, because he’s a good football coach, and I’ve watched him make chicken salad over the last couple of seasons,” Danny said.
“Safe, solid, and okay…where do I sign up for that? Buy your tickets now!” Grant snarked back. “Everything here’s been exciting, fun, and sexy…everything’s been a thong, and he’s trying to be granny panties.”
Underwear proclivities aside, Paulsen makes a great point about what the fan base is expecting.
“I am in lock step with you. This to me is a chance for that second-deck grand slam, highlight reel, we’ve played this one on YouTube a million times hires,” Danny said. “Dan Quinn would be a, ‘this guy’s a good football coach.’ There’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s more right. That’s how I feel. I wouldn’t be as devastated or crestfallen as you. I would go, ‘okay, solid.’ They got a couple of homers, Adam Peters, they’ve done some great things, now they did some fine things. That would be fine, but I don’t want fine.
I want the ‘everyone else wanted the dude, nobody could have him except for us because he chose us’ kind of feel. This would be a ‘we’re willing to give this guy another shot’ type feel, and that’s not as exciting to me.”
