Speaker 1: Welcome in Command his Family to a new season of
Speaker 1: the game Plan. We sit with head coach Dan Quinn
Speaker 1: and talk to him all about his off season and
Speaker 1: how he made that initial the three man roster. Dan
Speaker 1: Quinn talked about his time with Logan Paulson and what
Speaker 1: he's learned from his time as a head coach. All
Speaker 1: that and more starts right now. Welcome into the game
Speaker 1: Plan Command his Family. I am Brian Copy Junior, here
Speaker 1: with the legend Logan Paulson and of course our fearless leader,
Speaker 1: head coach Dan Quinn. Coach, good to have you here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm pumped to be on with you guys. And yeah,
Speaker 2: to be a cool show. Man, I'm really really pumped
Speaker 2: to be here with you.
Speaker 1: We're so excited to have you and this is our
Speaker 1: initial show. No, we got to do some intros, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, people know who you are, but this is
Speaker 1: your return to the DMV.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: How has it been.
Speaker 2: It's been awesome, man, Honestly, the whole experience of coming
Speaker 2: back to this area, getting to know the fan base here,
Speaker 2: getting to know the people, the team, and that's been
Speaker 2: one of the coolest experiences man. Like, my favorite part
Speaker 2: of this team is the team. All these guys, what
Speaker 2: they make up the locker room. It's a really cool
Speaker 2: group of guys.
Speaker 1: Man, I'm having a I'm glad you're able to enjoy
Speaker 1: it because there's a lot of toughness right with being
Speaker 1: in a new team. And one of the things we
Speaker 1: last talked about was building that cohesiveness not only with
Speaker 1: Adam Peters, but the rest of your staff. How was
Speaker 1: that process, man?
Speaker 2: You know that part is it's so important because they
Speaker 2: have to know the man before the ballplayer. And so
Speaker 2: you're going through the off season program, new players here,
Speaker 2: current players here. Before we got into the X and o's,
Speaker 2: we wanted to make sure we got to know who,
Speaker 2: you know, behind the ribcage, who was the person. And
Speaker 2: then we did the same thing with the rookies and
Speaker 2: to see the veterans really take on, you know, the
Speaker 2: young guys. We had, you know, twenty rookies that were here,
Speaker 2: and so to see them they were not our pledges,
Speaker 2: their little brothers, and so to make sure they were
Speaker 2: going to help them gain their way into the NFL
Speaker 2: and earn that respect. And so it's a very cool
Speaker 2: place if you are a young player to come in
Speaker 2: because You've got some really cool mentors that are looking
Speaker 2: after you. Coach.
Speaker 3: I always think it's interesting when you build a staff
Speaker 3: because you got people from all over the place. You
Speaker 3: got guys from Philly, from New York, like do you
Speaker 3: have like a rolodex and names You're like, oh, let's
Speaker 3: go call so and Sorrows or people referring you people.
Speaker 2: You know what. I was fortunate, Logan, I had some time,
Speaker 2: you know, to prepare for this, and so over the
Speaker 2: last few years, had a chance to visit with some people.
Speaker 2: If an opportunity, you know, that really would light us up,
Speaker 2: that this would be something we'd want to do. So
Speaker 2: guys like Brian Johnson and Anthony Lynn and Jason Simmons,
Speaker 2: Darryl Tapp were ones that it just if that if
Speaker 2: it all lined up, you know, would there be a shot.
Speaker 2: And so what was really cool is see how many
Speaker 2: people wanted to be here. They saw the same vision
Speaker 2: that I had about what it can be here and
Speaker 2: how we would go about doing that. And so that
Speaker 2: was that was like one of the most gratifying feeling,
Speaker 2: you know, like they want in, they want a part
Speaker 2: of it.
Speaker 1: And Coach has been a busy offseason So I got
Speaker 1: a really tough question for you. Sure, what has been
Speaker 1: your favorite part so far of this entire process?
Speaker 2: Man, that's a cool one because like being introduced here
Speaker 2: was a really cool thing, you know, because you reflect
Speaker 2: back about like why this game means so much, why
Speaker 2: you love it so much, and so, uh, you didn't
Speaker 2: get here, you know, into this seat on your own.
Speaker 2: So I think I probably had more gratitude for the
Speaker 2: opportunity of coming into it than I did, you know,
Speaker 2: my first lap in Atlanta. As far as the coolest part,
Speaker 2: I would probably have to say like at practice, like
Speaker 2: first practice, you know, just knowing like this crew is
Speaker 2: going to be the one that you know is going
Speaker 2: to do some things. These ones are my day ones,
Speaker 2: and so being here with those guys like that was
Speaker 2: the coolest part. Like this is where we start.
Speaker 3: I never really thought about that, but it's got to
Speaker 3: feel like like your dad for the first time with
Speaker 3: your kind of little little little chicks running around on
Speaker 3: the field, right, And like I never really thought of
Speaker 3: that emotional kind of impact of that first day.
Speaker 2: And that's what makes you know, the waiver process so difficult,
Speaker 2: because you pour all yourself into everybody to try to
Speaker 2: get everything you can out and it. You know, just
Speaker 2: numbers don't line up where you get to keep everybody.
Speaker 2: But that doesn't prohibit you from like absolutely digging and
Speaker 2: going for it, because there's a lot of belief that
Speaker 2: app has to feel from his coach and knowing that,
Speaker 2: like this guy believes in me, he's going to take
Speaker 2: me to that next spot. And if a player knows
Speaker 2: he has that kind of belief, he can go to
Speaker 2: further heights. And if we can do that on a
Speaker 2: bigger scale with these coaches, then there's no limit to
Speaker 2: what a team can become.
Speaker 1: And close Before move to preseason, I have to ask
Speaker 1: you a follow up because you said that this time
Speaker 1: around was a little different than that time around Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Can you expand on that and why was it so
Speaker 1: different for you and why was it important for it
Speaker 1: to feel different this time?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you know, you don't get a lot
Speaker 2: of shots at these and so leaving Atlanta, there were
Speaker 2: some things I wanted to do differently, you know, if
Speaker 2: this next opportunity came about, and I was looking for
Speaker 2: something so specific to know where you could just go
Speaker 2: kick ass at the highest level. And so the ownership
Speaker 2: group of Josh general manager with AP what you can
Speaker 2: do you know here, knowing like this is a kick
Speaker 2: ass organization, and like knowing how important the football team
Speaker 2: is to this community. Like, that's the type of environment
Speaker 2: I wanted to be a part of, where you feel
Speaker 2: the team and the city connect. And so those were
Speaker 2: some of the markers that I wanted. And I wasn't
Speaker 2: going to miss it, you know, when the opportunity came about,
Speaker 2: I just wasn't.
Speaker 3: I've always wondered coach, like, and this is something I'll
Speaker 3: never have the opportunity to So it's cool to be
Speaker 3: able to ask you about it. Is how do you
Speaker 3: know when you sit down with an honor these are
Speaker 3: some of the most smartest and most powerful people in
Speaker 3: the world, and you know you like football and I
Speaker 3: like football, But how do you kind of enter that
Speaker 3: group and say, hey, like this is the right opportunity
Speaker 3: for me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think most people can probably relate to it.
Speaker 2: When you're on an interview, you're also interviewing them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 2: You want to find out, you know, what are some
Speaker 2: of their values, how do they like to communicate, what's
Speaker 2: the things that are important to them in the team,
Speaker 2: and so when you're there, that's how you can find
Speaker 2: out some of the information. Although our professional paths might
Speaker 2: be different, that doesn't mean you can't be connected in
Speaker 2: similar value, similar philosophies of winning and building a team
Speaker 2: and things that are important to me. So for me,
Speaker 2: I wanted somebody that believed in culture and believed in
Speaker 2: communication and believed in team. Those were the things that
Speaker 2: make me as a coach, you know, fill me up.
Speaker 2: And so when all that was aligned here, that was
Speaker 2: why I was like, this is the spot. This is
Speaker 2: the one that I'm going forward with all I got.
Speaker 1: And after you make these decisions, you go through that process,
Speaker 1: get your coaching staff together. Yeah, that's time to play ball. Now,
Speaker 1: what's into the preseason? First things First, first time being
Speaker 1: back in the preseason as a head coach, what' stood
Speaker 1: out to you most during that time?
Speaker 2: It was cool, Like we had two road trips together.
Speaker 2: We went to New Jersey for four days and we
Speaker 2: went to Miami for four days, had a practice and
Speaker 2: a game. A practice and a game. So in those moments,
Speaker 2: you know, you want to see the team connect, you know,
Speaker 2: to see how they're going to respond to another going
Speaker 2: against you. Know, playing against other people and to see
Speaker 2: how strong their bond is. And they've been competing against
Speaker 2: one another for so long, so let's see how it
Speaker 2: goes when we go up to New Jersey or down
Speaker 2: to Miami. And so they just they wouldn't back off.
Speaker 2: They were competing, and having those four days together away
Speaker 2: from here, I thought was really valuable for us. I
Speaker 2: trust these guys, you know, and I trust them on
Speaker 2: and off the field. And so not every team can
Speaker 2: say that, you know, you take a trip down to
Speaker 2: Miami for four days or in New York for four days,
Speaker 2: you know, I mean on the team, maybe we shouldn't
Speaker 2: do that, but I would say you could tell how
Speaker 2: important it is to this crew and their standards they
Speaker 2: have for one another. And those are the things that
Speaker 2: that stand out to me.
Speaker 3: You talked about connection, like that's something that as a
Speaker 3: player you can feel, but it's like as a coach,
Speaker 3: like how do you identify You mentioned the competition, You
Speaker 3: mentioned stuff like that, is it the guy's cutting up
Speaker 3: in the locker room? Is it the sideline? Like what
Speaker 3: are the things or is it all of the above.
Speaker 3: They kind of say, this team's really hit it on
Speaker 3: the way the way you want to hit it.
Speaker 2: I think the biggest marker logan is player to player,
Speaker 2: you know, and you know, how does the team act
Speaker 2: and respond when we're not with the coaches and what
Speaker 2: does that look like? And so to see their time together,
Speaker 2: I think I probably noticed it, you know, for first
Speaker 2: in a maybe it was an O TA or a
Speaker 2: mini camp and okay, the day ends at this time
Speaker 2: at one o'clock and they're just hanging out, still doing
Speaker 2: stuff together at you know, three thirty or four in
Speaker 2: the afternoon, the one A coaches there, they were just
Speaker 2: doing their thing together. So what excited me probably about
Speaker 2: the Miami game and the New England game was the
Speaker 2: energy on the sideline for player to player, you know,
Speaker 2: to see the plays that happened. I saw John Allen
Speaker 2: running down the field on a big hit you know
Speaker 2: from Tyler Owens that you know, slap them in the
Speaker 2: head and say you did a hell of a job.
Speaker 2: And then you know, on the sideline the other night,
Speaker 2: on a touchdown play at the end of the game,
Speaker 2: just you know, we would have got a penalty. There's
Speaker 2: like fifty players like you know, T shirts and shorts
Speaker 2: like in the end zone. But I would say, that's
Speaker 2: what I'd hoped I'd see, you know, that type of
Speaker 2: connection where their brothers were making plays and they were
Speaker 2: excited about it. Because if you don't have that all
Speaker 2: your scheme and the other stuff it's it makes it
Speaker 2: a lot harder. So the first thing you have to do, man,
Speaker 2: you have to play hard for one another. And so
Speaker 2: seeing those guys do that was cool because they were
Speaker 2: expressing to their teammates how hard they're willing to go
Speaker 2: to be a part of this.
Speaker 1: And Coach, you hit on some of those beautiful things
Speaker 1: about preseason and why we love it so much. Yes,
Speaker 1: but there's a lot of tough decisions that go into
Speaker 1: that preseason as it comes to an end, and you
Speaker 1: had to set on a fifty three man roster. Talk
Speaker 1: to us about that evaluation process and what you were
Speaker 1: looking for in the preseason to make that final decision.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think as you're going through some things, you
Speaker 2: want to make sure that you have an identity, you know,
Speaker 2: so people know who you are, how you get down
Speaker 2: when you play, and you have to have a certain
Speaker 2: attitude and play style to do that. And so before
Speaker 2: any scheme comes in, we had said, you know, being
Speaker 2: a commander ain't gonna be for everybody. You know, it's
Speaker 2: gonna be hard. We're gonna be tough, and that doesn't
Speaker 2: mean you can't play in the league, but like, we
Speaker 2: are going to be about that life and be tough
Speaker 2: and physical and play fast. And so the guys that
Speaker 2: wanted to demonstrate that and show that over and over,
Speaker 2: that's that was really at the top of the pile.
Speaker 2: The skill sets. You're always developing that, Brian, You're always
Speaker 2: you're always continuing to work on that, and that kind
Speaker 2: of shows up in the tape where a player is,
Speaker 2: you know, in their development. But if you have the
Speaker 2: dog in you to go fight for it and battle
Speaker 2: for it, you can develop a hell of a lot
Speaker 2: faster because you're not gonna You're not going to stop.
Speaker 2: And so those were the traits that we were looking
Speaker 2: for going into the end of the preseason. Adam and
Speaker 2: I like it never really stopped. So it's not like
Speaker 2: two nights ago we had to come up with a
Speaker 2: list what are we gonna do now? So it's been
Speaker 2: moving that way of who we would like to you know,
Speaker 2: have represent us in the city and what we're about.
Speaker 2: And so that was a long ongoing conversation.
Speaker 3: Is that hard to do?
Speaker 1: Coach?
Speaker 3: Is that hard to kind of say, like we want
Speaker 3: to prioritize like toughness and competitiveness over maybe physical skill.
Speaker 3: You know, I have been on some teams where it
Speaker 3: hasn't been it's been more physical skill and the culture
Speaker 3: kind of wanes. Is that hard for you or is
Speaker 3: that is that the right way to do it?
Speaker 2: I think you have to go through the lessons to
Speaker 2: know that. And I don't know about you, Logan, but
Speaker 2: the best teams I've been a part of were really
Speaker 2: tough and really good in the locker room first. And
Speaker 2: so when you had those two things and they're really tough,
Speaker 2: really good in the locker room, you'd be surprised what
Speaker 2: a team can accomplish, you know, because they're just not
Speaker 2: going to stop, they're not going to beat themselves, and
Speaker 2: so that connection happens. They really don't want to let
Speaker 2: the other guy down if there's not a connection, like
Speaker 2: not my fault, I did my job, but you'll you know,
Speaker 2: So we don't want that part, you know, we want
Speaker 2: to make sure guys are all about it. And so
Speaker 2: it's cool to see.
Speaker 3: I think you see that around league too, like San
Speaker 3: fran Detroit. All these teams that are good football teams
Speaker 3: are tough as nails, and like that seems like the
Speaker 3: model together.
Speaker 2: It's way deeper than collecting talent, you know, way deeper
Speaker 2: than that. It's about putting an entire team together, and
Speaker 2: at times some people have to go to make sure
Speaker 2: the whole team is right. And those are the hard decisions,
Speaker 2: but ones that we're always going to make, like we're
Speaker 2: always going to choose the team, like that's that's our obligation,
Speaker 2: you know, to the organization, to the fans and everybody else.
Speaker 1: And a big part of building that team, of course
Speaker 1: is the rookies. Got a rookie quarterback in Jaden and Daniels.
Speaker 1: A little easier for a quarterback to stand out into preseason, right,
Speaker 1: but for these other rookies, what are things you're looking
Speaker 1: for that makes a rookie standout trying to make this roster.
Speaker 2: I think there's an element that you need confidence for sure,
Speaker 2: and that comes from reps and from playing. And when
Speaker 2: you see that play happen'd like to see more of that?
Speaker 2: Can we get some more? And when you show that again,
Speaker 2: now you're demonstrating what you're capable of becoming what you're
Speaker 2: capable of doing. And sometimes coming out of college, sometimes
Speaker 2: most of the time a player doesn't even have a
Speaker 2: vision of what they can be and they think the
Speaker 2: NFL is supposed to be one thing or what it is.
Speaker 2: But like, you can do this one thing better than anybody.
Speaker 2: We can build your whole game around that. And finding
Speaker 2: what you're exceptional at is important because you can't bs
Speaker 2: yourself and you know, try things that you're not capable
Speaker 2: of becoming. But if you can find some things that
Speaker 2: like you're as good or better than anybody at, like
Speaker 2: we're going to find and how to build around that.
Speaker 2: And so there's a number of these guys that have
Speaker 2: stood out in that way. And then the second thing,
Speaker 2: I were just looking for guys who won't stop competing.
Speaker 2: You know, we're going to find an edge, go finish plays.
Speaker 2: And when you do that over and over, that's when
Speaker 2: we demonstrate it to their teammates and to everybody here.
Speaker 2: Like they're putting their chips on the table, like I
Speaker 2: want in and you have to recognize that.
Speaker 3: And that coach, like, that's something I think, like you
Speaker 3: talk about the kids kind of coming in, but like
Speaker 3: I think you've done over your career, done a good
Speaker 3: job of identifying that superpower, you know, that ability that
Speaker 3: like what the kid does well and seeing growth potential
Speaker 3: like is that just experience like life experience or did
Speaker 3: you have a guy mentor that touch of that or I.
Speaker 2: Think I was really fortunate, Like my entry way into
Speaker 2: the NFL, I was around like some remarkable people. And
Speaker 2: so my first year was like Bill wals should still
Speaker 2: been a consultant in a GM and San Francisco and
Speaker 2: so like spending time in his office and finding out
Speaker 2: about a you know, and what would you do on
Speaker 2: short yards and a designated pass rusher and the smallest
Speaker 2: of details. And coming from college you just looked at
Speaker 2: a player and you evaluated, oh, he's a good player,
Speaker 2: and you signed him. It was so much more specific,
Speaker 2: and it just changed my whole vision of there's certain
Speaker 2: things that players can do, and then how do you
Speaker 2: build around that, and when you're coming up in college,
Speaker 2: just look for the good athlete or the good player.
Speaker 2: And so it was so much more specific than that,
Speaker 2: and that was probably the first thing that enhanced that
Speaker 2: ability to look for what a player can do as
Speaker 2: opposed to what they can't. And when you can find
Speaker 2: it and you do it over and over, then you
Speaker 2: have something really cool and culch.
Speaker 1: You're super chill right now. But everybody you talk to
Speaker 1: around the league, whether it's Josh Harris, whether it's people
Speaker 1: on other teams, they talk about your energy. Why was
Speaker 1: it so important for you to come in and bring
Speaker 1: this energy and still that illness.
Speaker 2: I think it's a pretty chill studio. So I feel
Speaker 2: like hanging out with you. Yeah, it's so nice. Why
Speaker 2: was the culture part so important?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I think you know, when you've coached for a while
Speaker 2: and been on a lot of teams. I think I've
Speaker 2: been over like seventy or eighty of them in my life.
Speaker 2: I love being a part of a team, and it's
Speaker 2: why I coach that connection with the players, the coaches,
Speaker 2: everybody who's part of the team, knowing that the wins
Speaker 2: are produced by everybody. And so when you have that
Speaker 2: appreciation to know how hard it is and how much
Speaker 2: you have to put in to go get it, and
Speaker 2: all these people are pulling forward in the same direction
Speaker 2: to go get the wins, like, it's such a cool
Speaker 2: feeling and that doesn't happen just you know, rolling the
Speaker 2: ball out or having a practice like you have to
Speaker 2: be intentional about you know what you're looking for, and
Speaker 2: what we're looking for is guys that play with energy,
Speaker 2: play with toughness, but have we have really high standards
Speaker 2: about how we want to do things and so it's hard,
Speaker 2: but we also have a lot of fun doing it.
Speaker 2: And so I think through my life I've worked you
Speaker 2: can work really really hard, but you can also like
Speaker 2: enjoy it and have a good time finding the balance
Speaker 2: of both of those. Those are some of the best times.
Speaker 1: Coach excited for this so and excited to see you
Speaker 1: guys get in the film room after this break Thanks Coach.
Speaker 2: All right, awesome man, glad to be with you guys,
Speaker 2: and we'll throw a hell of a here.
Speaker 1: Command his Family. We know you are enjoying the game plan. However,
Speaker 1: if you want to see Coach and logan Paul said
Speaker 1: break down plays in the film room, you could check
Speaker 1: that out on the Commander's YouTube page. Welcome back to
Speaker 1: game Plan, Command his Family, Logan, it was so cool
Speaker 1: seeing you and DQ have that same chemistry that you
Speaker 1: guys had out in Atlanta and those two don't know
Speaker 1: you played under Dan Quinn.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I did plan or Daniel. It's great to see
Speaker 3: him here, you know, like great to see him kind
Speaker 3: of revitalize this opportunity. I remember talking to him after
Speaker 3: he was fired in Atlanta and kind of him asking
Speaker 3: for feedback and him I know other people that I
Speaker 3: know talking and looking for feedback about how he could grow,
Speaker 3: and then seeing him implement all of that feedback. And
Speaker 3: he's just got such a growth mindset and he's just
Speaker 3: such a good person, you know. And I think that's
Speaker 3: the thing, Like I tell people this all the time,
Speaker 3: I never had more fun than when I was playing
Speaker 3: it Atlanta because of him, Because he makes it fun
Speaker 3: to come to work every day. He makes you passionate
Speaker 3: about your teammates and the connection he talked about a
Speaker 3: lot on the interview, and it's just and it's cool
Speaker 3: to see it kind of ramped up and revitalized and
Speaker 3: retooled the way he's done it here. And I'm just
Speaker 3: really happy that he's got this opportunity.
Speaker 1: And that's the same thing all the players mimic, right,
Speaker 1: They're all saying the same thing about his energy and
Speaker 1: that they just love playing for him. He talked about
Speaker 1: his growth. What have you seen so far that has
Speaker 1: been different than what you saw in Atlanta.
Speaker 3: What's interesting is the stuff that he's said. You know,
Speaker 3: it's something he said in the media, like when he
Speaker 3: was in Atlanta. He's a guy that wants to help
Speaker 3: make everything better, make every individual player better, make the
Speaker 3: organization better, make the draft process better. And he and
Speaker 3: he's pulled that way. He's pulled to make everything better.
Speaker 3: And I think he said this in his press conference,
Speaker 3: like he just was doing too much. And now to
Speaker 3: see him totally locked in on being a head coach
Speaker 3: and being the guy that can set the culture and
Speaker 3: set the standard and be dynamic in the meeting room
Speaker 3: and build those interpersonal relationships like he's always talking about.
Speaker 1: Like the player's superpower.
Speaker 3: His superpower is building relationships with people. And I think
Speaker 3: you see that every single day that he's here, and
Speaker 3: he can focus exclusively on that because Adam Peters is
Speaker 3: so talented his job, you know what I'm saying. I
Speaker 3: think for him to kind of build that structure out
Speaker 3: that allows him to be the best version of himself,
Speaker 3: I think it's his evolution, but also a total credit to.
Speaker 1: Him command his family. You can catch us every Sunday
Speaker 1: on WSA nine Sunday mornings before year games. This is
Speaker 1: game plan with Bryan Colbe, junior Logan Paulson, head coach
Speaker 1: Dan Quinn until next Sunday commands. Family, Yeah,