While insisting that he is focused on the upcoming Super Bowl as the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, Dan Quinn told the media at Super Bowl Media Day that he is excited for the next step in his career. That next step, barring a major turnaround, will be the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Quinn has not officially been hired, but all sides are acting as if the move will be made official later next week and several of the Falcons players are ready for a change.
The Falcons are the only team that has yet to hire a head coach because per league rules, the Quinn hire cannot be made official until the Seahawks season is over. However, that is not stopping Atlanta media from stepping in for an interview of the man who will replace Mike Smith. Quinn was careful with his words in order to not violate the NFL tampering policy, but the current defensive coordinate said he is ready for the next step in his career.
"You learn from the good experiences and you learn from some of the ones that maybe didn't go as well as they could have," Quinn said, via AJC.com. "I don't know that there was one moment of clarity (for me). I just knew that I wanted to coach a bigger group (of players) for a long time. I wanted to become a defensive coordinator, in the hopes that one day I would be a head coach."
Quarterback Matt Ryan briefly touched on the changes coming to the Falcons in 2015. Ryan admitted that the disappointing ending in 2014 was still very fresh in his mind and playing in the Super Bowl stadium only made that more clear. The quarterback stressed that he will be focused on doing a lot of improving this offseason and is excited to see where the head coach will take the team in the future.
"It's still fresh in my mind and it was disappointing," Ryan said, via the team website. "It didn't go the way any of us wanted to. But it'll be exciting moving forward. Things will be a little bit different (with a new coaching staff), learning what to do. I'll miss Smitty (former head coach Mike Smith). He was great. But it also will be exciting to see what happens and I'm looking forward to it."
The Falcons have a lot of changes outside of the coaching staff coming as well. Steven Jackson will likely not return. Julio Jones will be looking for a new contract. Sean Weatherspoon, Robert McClain and Kroy Biermann all need new contracts as well. When Quinn steps in as head coach, the work begins immediately.
