The Falcons didn’t really keep it a secret, but their decision to hire Dan Quinn as their next head coach couldn’t become official until Quinn was done with his duties as the Seahawks defensive coordinator.
Those duties came to a conclusion with the final whistle of Sunday night’s 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl and the Falcons didn’t waste much time formally hiring their man. The team announced Monday afternoon that Quinn will take over for Mike Smith, who was let go after seven years with a 66-46 record.
Smith’s teams won just 10 games the last two seasons, however, and Quinn will be charged with building up the defense while getting an offense with Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and Roddy White to fire at a high level in order to get better results in the future. The Falcons worked on building Quinn’s staff while waiting to hire him and it’s expected to include offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan with Raheem Morris and Richard Smith on the defensive side of the ball.
In addition to those hires, Alex Marvez of FOX Sports reports that Seahawks assistant offensive line coach Chris Morgan will head to Atlanta with Quinn to become the Falcons’ offensive line coach.
