Ranking the Chicago Bears head coaching candidates being interviewed

Chicago Bears Coaching Candidate: Dan Quinn, DC – Dallas Cowboys

In the same tier as Todd Bowles is Dan Quinn. The only reason Quinn saw a slightly higher grade in my rankings is that Quinn has had proven success as a head coach — Bowles hasn’t. The thing is, these guys are essentially cut from the same cloth. As you go through my rankings, you will quickly see a pattern. The pattern is that the defensive-minded coaches are all at the bottom. Am I wrong for doing this? History and the current makeup of the NFL would suggest no.

A bit part of the reason why Dan Quinn saw success as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons is that he had Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator for the first two years. The team went 8-8 in the first year under Quinn and Shanahan. The offense was seventh in yards, but couldn’t score. They finished 21st in points.

That changed in 2016 when they went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Patriots in the infamous 28-3 collapse. Despite the loss in the big game, the Falcons ranked second in yards and first in points that year. Matt Ryan had one of the best seasons of his career. Shanahan was hired in 2017 as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and then Steve Sarkisian took over as offensive coordinator in Atlanta.

The team finished with 10 wins that first year but the offense dropped to eighth in yards and 15th in points. In 2018 the team was sixth and 10th. Sarkisian was fired at the end of the 2018 season and replaced by Dirk Koetter. Under Koetter, the Falcons finished fifth and 13th in 2019. Quinn was fired after five games in 2020 when the team started the year 0-5. The offense finished that year ranked 18th in yards and 16th in points. Do you see what I don’t want for the Chicago Bears?