Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Can Dan Quinn Take Defense to the Next Level?
Episode Date: January 19, 2023Another day, another Indianapolis Colts interview. The Colts recently requested an interview with Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. Could he take the Colts' defense to another level? Mar...cus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) of PFF and Locked On Cowboys joins to discuss!Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFLFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN!Today’s episode is presented by PrizePicks. PrizePicks is daily fantasy made easy. Pick 2-5 players and if they score more or less than their PrizePicks projection you can win up to 10x your money on your entry. First-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONUltimate Football GMTo download the game just visit Ultimate-GM.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store.TurboTaxCome to TurboTax and don’t do your taxes. Visit TurboTax.com to learn more.Tommy JohnWinter mornings are brutal. So here’s my tip for tackling the day in comfort: Grab new Tommy John Loungewear and take cozy wherever you go. Get TWENTY PERCENT OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER at TommyJohn.com/LOCKEDON. BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
Discussion (0)
We're getting defensive today as we talk about the Colts adding one of the more highly regarded
defensive coordinators in the NFL to their growing list of head coaching candidates.
Let's get to it.
You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast.
Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
Thank you all for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts,
part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
Today's show is presented by PrizePix, which is daily fantasy made easy.
Just pick two to five players, and if they score more or less than their stat projections,
then you can win up to ten times your money on any entry.
First-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON.
That's prizepix.com, promo code LOCKEDON.
I am Jake Arthur and he is Zach Hicks.
You know the two of us from horseshoehuddle.com of course.
Today we're going to continue our deep dives into the Colts head coaching candidates and
this one is hot off the presses, actually.
The Colts have submitted an interview request for Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn,
and we brought in our good friend Marcus Mosher from Pro Football Focus and Locked On Cowboys to tell us a bit more about him.
So Marcus, first off, welcome to the show, and thanks for joining us.
Yeah, thanks for having me. It's a fun time of year, not only for the Cowboys,
but for lots of teams around the league as we get ready to do this head coaching cycle.
Yeah, totally different fun segments for both sides.
You guys get to enjoy the playoffs.
We get to go through quarterback search, head coach search, all of it.
So lots to be excited about.
So Dan Quinn, he's been kind of a hot name in recent off seasons,
been kind of careful about where he chooses to go,
withdrew his name late in the process last year.
Does that still seem to be the case?
And if so, what might the Colts offer to him that might be attractive? So I think Dan Quinn is going to be picky with and if so what might the colts offer uh to him that might be attractive so i
think dan quinn is going to be picky with his next job right because he probably only gets one more
shot at this thing right like if he picks the wrong job and he gets fired he's he's just not
going to get these opportunities again so he he wants to be very careful he wants to choose the
right situation with the right ownership and i'm not sure if that's the Colts or not.
Maybe it is.
Maybe he has this,
he would get a long contract there.
He would be given time to rebuild the franchise,
but it does seem like he's going to be very picky with where he lands.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think a big thing with Dan Quinn is he's that retread type,
you know,
everyone hates retreads.
I've seen a lot
of Colts fans saying like no to Raheem Morris because he would be a retread and stuff like that
um do you think it's kind of again I don't want to say it's like disingenuous but you think it's
you know is it easier to judge Dan Quinn or more accurate to judge him based off what he's doing
with the Cowboys now or do you kind of have to factor in a lot of that Falcons time as well
you have to factor both in,
but I want to would also say about the retread coaches,
look at the playoffs right now,
look how many retread coaches you have in the playoffs between Mike McCarthy with the Cowboys,
Doug Peterson with Jacksonville,
Andy Reid with the Eagles,
right?
So being a retread coach,
is it necessarily the worst thing in the world,
but you got to find out,
okay,
why did this guy leave or why did he get fired from his previous coaching
job?
What does he offer now?
And I think there is a lot of things that are appealing about Dan Quinn.
If you're looking for a culture setting and culture building coach,
I think that's Dan Quinn.
The players absolutely love them.
They play hard for him.
He has the total respect of the locker room.
And if that's something that you feel like your franchise needs,
there might not be a better coaching candidate in this cycle
than Dan Quinn in that area.
That honestly sounds like it's from the vein of what the Colts are looking for.
It's something that endeared Jim Irsay to Jeff Saturday.
And I remember seeing plenty of things from Dan Quinn back when he was
with the Falcons. You know, he was really good at the team building and did a lot of interesting
things in the offseason to do all that. So that's interesting that you say that. So the Cowboys,
you know, under Quinn have been a pretty solid defense. They've had their moments, of course.
But, you know, with the Seahawks, with the Falcons, now with the Cowboys, he's got a proven track record defensively.
The Cowboys obviously have some star power, Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence,
Trevon Diggs. So it's understandable that they would be a good defense,
but how much of their success do you attribute to Quinn and how much of it is
just, just based on star power and being an opportunistic bunch?
Well, I mean, I think Trevon Diggs was drafted before Dan Quinn got there.
But when he was a rookie, he really struggled.
First year Dan Quinn there turns him into an all-pro corner.
Dan Quinn wanted Micah Parsons in the draft.
The Cowboys got him.
They had this vision to turn him into a pass rusher and not an off-the-ball linebacker.
So while those guys are really talented,
he helped develop them and get them to play like superstars,
like they are.
So between that and how complex the defense is
and some of the type of players that he brings in,
like his ability to get the most out of guys
that basically the league said, no thanks, we're done with.
J. Ron Curse, perfect example. This is somebody who was bouncing around the league. He no, thanks. We're done with J Ron curse. Perfect
example. This is somebody who was bouncing around the league. He was a 29 year old safety
who was only a special teams player. Cowboys bring him in. They create a role for him.
And now he's a borderline pro bowl safety. Same with Dante Fowler, right? Dante Fowler
signed for the veteran minimum this off season. He's having a really good year. So if you bring
in somebody like Dan Quinn, that's what he can do. He can just elevate some of the talent around him.
And you don't necessarily have to spend a lot of big picks to get good production on defense.
Yeah. And Marcus, you know, with you being part of pro football focus, I know you guys
over there have been a big proponent of this new change at NFL defense. You know,
we're not really seeing much of that single high safety,
a lot of that cover three.
And that's where Dan Quinn comes from.
You know, he was with that Seattle cover three and did a lot of that.
And we've been coaching like Gus Bradley kind of the last of their bunch.
And, you know, Gus Bradley was here last year doing a lot of cover three
with the Colts.
But it seems like to me as an outsider,
Dan Quinn has really changed a lot of his philosophy on defense.
Is he still that Seattle cover three coach or has he kind of adapted to the times and kind of turned into, you know, maybe like a little bit more Fangio style, like two high safeties.
No team in the league ran less cover three than the Dallas Cowboys this year. that Dan Quinn is willing to change and adapt based on not only just the talent around him,
but also, you know, the way that they're playing opponents and he can adjust for
playing Tom Brady one week and then playing, you know, whoever Joe Burrow the next week.
And then Daniel Jones, like he's going to adapt his defense. He's going to find creative ways
to bring pressure. My only concern with him on defense a little bit is he can be a little bit
soft when it comes to coverages, not the most complex there. So you have to have a lot of
talent in the secondary for the defense to play well. But he's going to scheme up pressure and
whatever team he goes to, you can guarantee they're going to be able to rush the passer.
Something we've heard, you know, during our interviews with people
covering the head coaching candidates, you know, some of these guys don't necessarily translate
well from coordinator to coach and vice versa. Quinn, is he much of a delegator? Like if he goes
on to be a head coach, do you see him just laser focusing on the defense or how might you see him delegating his time?
Yeah, and this is where I would have concerns about hiring Dan Quinn.
All the locker room stuff is fantastic.
He's going to get the right talent in there.
But the only time he really had success in Atlanta is when he had Kyle Shanahan running his offense with Matt LaFleur
helping out with the quarterbacks with Mike McDaniel,
helping run the receivers.
Once those guys left this team crater,
because he does rely so much on his assistants and his coordinators to handle
that side of the ball.
So unless you are bringing in an awesome all-star crew to run your offense,
I would be a little bit nervous about
hiring dan quinn yeah yeah and that leads to my next question my last one i have for you here is
you know dan quinn's been around the nfl since i think 2001 or 2000 i think is what it is he's
been around the nfl that long so obviously he has connections he has connections to the shanahan
tree to a lot of really good coaching trees um Do you think that he could build that kind of staff that could, you know,
lead to that success that he had early on in Atlanta?
I don't know.
It's a tough question because the kind of the rumblings that we've been hearing
is if he gets hired to be a head coach,
his offensive coordinator would be Brian Schottenheimer,
who is currently working with the Cowboys as like a special projects guy.
And we've seen Brian Schottenheimer be an offensive coordinator in the league
before, and it wasn't great.
I think he just kind of, he,
he hit the lottery having Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator back in
2016.
It might be hard to find lightning in a bottle twice there
with that same offensive unit.
That's certainly something we've been focusing on a lot,
is the staff that any of these guys would bring with them.
I'm glad you said that because that kind of gives me a little bit of pause.
Really quickly, I would just say,
if the Colts are going to hire an assistant for the Cowboys,
I really think Kellen Moore is the guy they should be looking at.
He's the Cowboys offensive coordinator.
They're number one in points per game when Dak Prescott's under center.
We saw them this year with a bad offensive line in Cooper Rush
in five or six games.
I think bringing in him to be your head coach
and then pairing him with
a veteran defensive coordinator, whether it's a Vic Fangio, or maybe you get a young guy
like Al Harris, who's running the secondary for Dallas, or maybe you keep Gus Bradley.
I think that would be a better combo than Dan Quinn, who is a little bit more proven
in Brian Schottenheimer running your offense.
I love that you mentioned that because we have because we have talked about Kellen Moore on here a little bit
before, and we kind of have a feeling that name could pop up here in the near future for us. So
might have to tab you again if his name comes up on the interview requests. But that is it for us
for now, guys. Be sure to follow Marcus on twitter at marcus underscore mosher and before
zach and i move on to talk about more of these head coaching candidates let's talk about bet
online.net which is your number one source for sports betting info stats news and analysis
get the latest odds and trends for every professional and amateur league out there
from pro football to college bowl season basketball and the world cup
they've got it all at betonline.net if you love sports podcasts and obviously you do you're
hanging out here with us and you can even find those at betonline.net as well they're always
the fastest and easiest way to get your betting info head to the website today or use your mobile
device to learn more betonlineline, where the game starts.
Okay, Zach, so lots of interesting stuff there with Quinn to talk about.
He was someone just in my mind coming into this.
I knew he was a successful defensive coordinator,
even most recently with the Cowboys who were still alive in it in the playoffs.
Obviously, he took that Falcons team to the Super Bowl,
but I'm really happy that we talked with Marcus about him because I don't really feel like he's this slam dunk necessarily anymore. Not that anyone is foolproof, but I do have some reservations now, I'll be honest. First and foremost, the concerns over the staff
he might build and the uber-reliance on the offensive side of it. When you think of it,
that Falcons team, when they were at their peak and they went to the Super Bowl before they kind
of fell off a cliff, Kyle Shanahan orchestrating an offense led by MVP Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Devontae Freeman.
I forget if Tony Gonzalez was still there, but they had young Austin Hooper.
That was a really talented offensive team.
And then when Shanahan went out the door,
it did seem like things kind of collapsed.
Did what Marcus say change anything for you at all?
A little bit.
I mean, when he mentioned, specifically when he said Brian Schottenheimer
would probably be his offensive coordinator,
that raised some red flags for me because I could think of a handful of other guys
that Quinn has been connected to or from trees that he's been connected to
that I would prefer over Brian Schottenheimer.
I don't really worry too much about what he could do on defense
because I think one thing that bodes better for him now than compared to his Atlanta days is, you know,
those Atlanta defenses, they were fine. You know, they were never anything special. They were
perfectly fine during, even during their best years there in Atlanta. But we have seen him be
a completely different defensive coach these last two seasons with the Cowboys. And Marcus talked about that a little bit on there.
You know, he's the coach that calls the least cover three in the entire NFL.
You know, that's unheard of for a guy who comes from the cover three tree.
You know, he comes from that Pete Carroll type of type of tree.
You know, he's one of the forefathers of it.
One of the guys you think of when you think of one of those cover three guys.
So it is
really fascinating to me how he's been able to change how he pounded the table for a guy like
Micah Parsons where that's really not someone that that like yeah that tree has that Leo position
that's a little bit like that but typically they don't have those hybrid type guys who can play
linebacker and rush off the edge they don't have a big playmaking corner that doesn't really press. He kind of sits back and, you know, just is there to be a ball hawk.
He has changed a lot over the years in terms of what he does defensively.
So I think that bodes really well,
and I think that sets him up for more success than what happened down in Atlanta.
Again, the Ben Schottenheimer thing does concern me a little bit.
I would prefer just someone from that Shanahan type tree that he has worked
with.
Schottenheimer is not terrible.
It's just,
you know,
we're talking retread head coach here,
retread play caller,
a major retread play caller.
He's had a lot of chances at this.
I would not really be on board with that,
especially when you look at,
you know,
Raheem Morris,
who we're going to talk about in our last segment here,
when we kind of recap all these guys guys he's going to bring on Zach Robinson
or he's going to bring on Mike LaFleur or something like that like guys who are young play callers you
have who are kind of up-and-comers I'd prefer that or something new age and very new than
than a guy who's more of just a consultant right now for the Dallas Cowboys and has had a lot of
chances at this and has it been great. So that's my biggest concern.
We talked with Marcus there, but I do like what he could do defensively.
I think he could take the foundation that Gus Bradley built this season and just take
this defense to another level.
But, you know, when you're a head coach, there's a lot more than just dominating on
one side of the ball.
We saw with the Colts this year, they were really good on defense for a lot of the year.
But when your offense is left behind, look what happens. You're terrible. You're
just a terrible team. And that's the biggest concern, especially if you're going to go the
defensive coach route. Yeah, that was actually, I'm going to roll that into my next point,
because I wanted to mention a positive of it, is that player development and getting the most out of the talent you have.
There's always these coaches that kind of force scheme over going off of player skill.
He helped turn around Trevon Diggs or get him on the right track.
Micah Parsons has been otherworldly.
Coming into his second season this year, he was the favorite to win defensive player of the year um he's really gotten a lot out of these guys he's got malik hooker playing
good ball for him that we've seen uh so player development is great you know for me that gets
me excited for like quidipe dia a dangbo some of the younger guys what can isaiah rogers do
in that instance you know um so that, so that's definitely, that's
definitely a big feather in the cap for me. Um, I can't say, I mean, we'll get to it in the next
segment. I can't say he's my top candidate. I would be fine if he was, if he was the,
if he was the pick at head coach, I mean, there's a reason he's highly regarded. But I think there is cause for some concern there.
But it's nothing, none of that is set in stone.
You know, the Shanahan tree, he could pull from that.
He doesn't necessarily have to bring someone like Schottenheimer in,
who I believe was the Colts quarterback's coach for a little bit,
if I remember correctly.
So he's had some uninspiring stints as a play caller,
offensive coordinator before,
but that's not necessarily going to be the pick.
And again, prime Matt Ryan, prime Julio Jones
are not walking through the door for the offense,
so he will have to bring a good offensive mind along with him.
Yeah, and one thing I want to add with what he could do to this Colts defense,
when you're looking at this Dallas Cowboys defense, it is very, very talented. You know,
he's been able to get the most out of a lot of players like Parsons and Trayvon Diggs and,
and that secondary has been playing really well. And I think if you add two factors that the Colts
have that the Cowboys don't, and don't get me wrong, one of these things, I'm not saying the
Cowboys are bad at, but when you add these two factors that the Colts have, I really think he
could take this defense to just another otherworldly level.
And one of those things is defensive tackle play.
The Cowboys, for how they have been able to hit on players on that defense, the Colts' defensive tackles are far and away much better.
DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart, they don't have anything like that.
You can run on this Cowboys' defense.
You can't run on the Colts no matter who the defensive coordinator is.
Yes, I know it kind of fell off late in the year when they got worn down
but when when Buckner and Grover Stewart are both at their best and they're both playing it's
insanely hard to run on this defense and we saw that a lot this year even with Gus Bradley who's
known for having weaker run defenses uh you know with what he's calling and the other thing is just
again Chris Ballard for all of his faults and all the
things that we have gone after him for on this podcast this season, he can find his gem. He can
find players for Dan Quinn to turn into productive role players. We saw Rodney Thomas this past
season have a phenomenal year as a seventh round pick out of Yale. We've seen Isaiah Rogers drafted
for a special teams ability, become a starting caliber quarter. We've seen Zyre Franklin, a seventh round pick at linebacker play like a pro bowl caliber player this season.
So I think Dan Quinn could take all of those guys to the next level.
But again, that's all just defense.
I'm concerned about offense and they're going to go the defensive route.
There's another guy that I would prefer over him, but I don't hate Dan Quinn.
I think he's a quality candidate.
I think there are a lot of good things to like, and especially these last two years, he's really,
really repaired a lot of his reputation that went down in his last couple of seasons with the
Falcons. He got up to a really hot start with the Falcons. I think he was 29 and 19 through his
first three seasons, went to the Super Bowl, did a lot of great things. Then when his staff got
picked apart and he made a really poor offensive coordinator choice in Steve Sarkeesian, it really went downhill. And he lost a lot of games and that
team stopped playing for him. But he does appear to have learned from that in these past two seasons.
I don't know how, you know, he's not super far removed from that failure. You know, it's only
three years ago that he got fired or two years ago, three years ago that he got fired. So it's
hard to say that he's completely changed and completely learned.
But he does seem to have learned from that.
He's turning a corner.
He's showing that he's more adaptive.
And he's doing a lot of things right.
So, yes, he might not be in my top five candidates right now.
I do think that he's a quality candidate.
And if he were to get the job, I could definitely talk myself into it.
As long as, you know, Brian Schottenheimer could probably maybe talk myself into a little bit,
but I'm never going to get fully on board with that.
I think that's a little, little short-sighted, but again,
it's hard to say who he definitely is going to bring with him.
That's just speculation and, or maybe even reports.
He might bring someone from that Shanahan tree, which would make it,
you know, a much, much better hire.
Yeah. And I think my last point here is defensively, again, neither of us really have
concerns about it. But I think rolling into his scheme would be relatively seamless, especially
for the guys who played for Eberflus and Gus Bradley. Now, talking to Marcus kind of beforehand,
the schemes with Bradley and Quinn aren't as similar as you would think. They do
kind of have some differences in beliefs and stuff. Yes, they both came from that Seattle
defensive coordinator group under Pete Carroll, but still a lot of it, I think a lot of things
are generally the same, or at least from the player's perspective, not foreign comp sets.
I think they'd be able to slink right back in there.
Whatever they were doing with Ibraflues, they could do it.
I just think it would be a pretty smooth transition,
not necessarily like it was from Ibraflues to Bradley
because we did see some growing pains there early with the linebackers,
Kenny Moore specifically.
Some of these guys took a little bit to get going,
but I think that's something I'm not really worried about.
More than anything, like you said, I think he could take that group to the next level.
Yeah, definitely.
And guys, we're going to give a rundown of all the candidates we talked about so far.
So we're going to take a little bit of a step back, take a little breather, talk about all these candidates, rank the, well, it was six, but rank the five guys so far because ben johnson pulled out we'll talk about that in the last section as well
but we'll talk about all that here in a second but first i want to tell you about our friends
over at bill bar if you're looking for a delicious treat but don't want all the fat and calories
then you've got to try built bar what makes built bar so good is they're all covered on 100 real
chocolate that's right real chocolate i'm not sure how Bill does it,
but these bars taste like a candy bar
while maintaining amazing macros.
And what's even better is they are healthy.
Only 130 calories and four grams of sugar
that walk in 17 grams of protein.
If you're close to Walmart or Sam's Club,
just run in and grab a box with hit flavors
like brownie batter and churro.
You can thank me later.
All right, Jake. So we're going to do a little bit of a recap
and kind of rank the five guys now.
Again, five guys.
It was six.
We had covered six on this podcast in a couple of days.
Ben Johnson is going back to the Detroit Lions.
He has told the Indianapolis Colts and the Carolina Panthers
that he is withdrawing his name from those searches in order to be an offense coordinator for the Lions again next year,
which again, the youngest candidate this cycle, only one year of a coordinator experience.
It makes a lot of sense for him to go back, even though it makes us a little bit sad
that our top guy is going back.
But of the five guys we've talked about so far, Aaron Glenn, Raheem Morris,
Jeff Saturday, Bubba Ventrone, and Dan
Quinn. Jake, how would you rank those and who is kind of the guy you're pounding the table out of
those five? Yeah, so I think we've gotten a lot out of this week so far. I've definitely learned
a lot. Just out of those five, I think I would rank it with Raheem Morris first.
I feel pretty good about that, considering his relationships with players and his growth from being a 32-year-old head coach to now and the staff he can build.
That would be my leader right now.
Second, I'm going Bubba Ventrone.
He's someone I'd be willing to bet on. I've seen what he could do for a long time. He may be the biggest unknown out of all of them, to be honest with you, but I think I'd be willing to him as well. We've heard concerns since talking to Jeff Risden, and we had it before.
The defense over there in Detroit was not good.
So why would the defensive coordinator be a good candidate?
Really, he's one of those guys that might just be a better head coach than a coordinator.
He's a good overseer.
He could delegate, do things like that.
And then Jeff Saturday, I think, you is my, my final candidate. So number one, Jeff, no, I'm just
kidding. I'm going to go. Yeah. I'm pretty much going to be lockstep with you. I think a little
bit of a change there in the middle, but yeah, Raheem Morris is definitely my number one. And
again, I'm not calling him the greatest candidate ever, but when you're looking at the whole body
of work, when you're looking at the staff he could build, when you're looking at the whole body of work when you're looking at the staff he could build when you're looking at what type of coach he is he's had
success as a defensive coordinator as a DB coach he's been a part of Super Bowl champion teams I
mean there's a lot to like about Raheem Morris yeah two of them two of them and one of them is
a defensive coordinator with a really really good defense there with the Rams so I don't know man I
think of the people they've interviewed so far,
so not including Kafka and not including D'Amico Ryan's, man,
I really think he'd be the best candidate for the Colts.
And I love Shane Steichen.
I think Shane Steichen in a vacuum is the guy that I would hire,
but I think Raheem Morris so far just fits everything that the Colts need.
So I'm all for Raheem, Raheem Morris. And
I know a lot of people lately, a lot of online Colts, Reddit and Colts, Twitter even have been
saying, Oh, all the beat reporters are hyping up Raheem Morris. They've been given their marching
orders from the Colts. And guys, I have been a Raheem Morris fan for a decade. I love Raheem
Morris. Even if you weren't in this coaching cycle, I'd be saying that I really like Raheem
Morris. So I would love for him to be the Colts head coach. So that's my number one for sure out
of this group. I think number two, I'm still going to go with Dan Quinn, even though the, again,
the pen shot and everything scares me, but I, I am such a huge fan of defensive mountains and just
what good defense can do. And I know it's an offensive league, but it's also a stop offensive league,
you know, to stop these great offenses.
I mean, if you look at the 49ers,
yes, they are winning
because they have so many elite
skill position players on one side,
but they also have a defense
only allowing 16 points a game.
And it's the same with the Cowboys.
You know, the Cowboys have a good quarterback
and a good offense on the other side,
but they're also forcing
the most turnovers in the league.
They're also top 10 in points allowed per game like they are a really good defense
and i think if you could have that consistently i mean dan quinn's done this two years in a row
but they've had a top 10 scoring defense and number one in turnovers forced back-to-back seasons
this is a very good defense and obviously he's not bringing trayvon diggs and micah parsons with him
but he does have some some pieces here to work with on the colts and and i really like what he very good defense. And obviously he's not bringing Trayvon Diggs and Micah Parsons with him,
but he does have some,
some pieces here to work with on the Colts.
And I really like what he can do with the defense. And I I'm optimistic that he could build a decent offensive staff that,
even though that was my big holdup number three,
I'm going to go with Bubba Ventron as well.
I,
I really like Bubba man.
Again,
I don't know if he's ready yet.
I don't know if he's there quite yet.
But one day, one day he's going to be a good head coach.
And I will 100% stand by that.
And Stephen Holder, when he was on the other day,
really gave even more insight into that and more reason to love Bubba.
So that's edged out over Aaron Glenn, which is my fourth guy.
I really like Aaron Glenn more than most people,
even though he's going to be towards the very, very bottom of my list for the Colts head coach. But he's a guy, again, in a vacuum. I'd
be fine with hiring a good motivator. He has turned that defense around a little bit. And if
you want a decorated player, a three-time Pro Bowler, the first Pro Bowler in Houston Texans
history, he's had success as a player as well. I think Aaron Glenn is a decent candidate.
That's the only guys I'm ranking.
That's it right there.
You're not ranking anyone else.
I don't think there was
I don't know if I'm missing anyone.
Looking at the list again.
I think I ranked them all there, Jake.
Back to you.
We beat that horse to death. No pun intended.
I think everyone knows where we stand on that one by now. Wow. Wow.
I pulled the rug right out from under you there. Yeah, no, I was going to say something about Quinn
and you kind of touched on it as well. And it's something I honestly kind of talked about a little bit,
was the Iberflues and Bradley mixing.
So Iberflues' defense was very opportunistic for us,
a ton of takeaways.
They were always up there near the top with Dallas and takeaways,
but not so many sacks.
You go to Gus Bradley, not very many takeaways,
and then they had one of the better seasons in sacks in recent indie cults history this would be the best of both worlds i mean you
have to have the players to match that too um but i think they were third in sacks dallas was and
first and takeaways so they had both of those things and if you're if you're killing drives with sacks and
straight up ending them with takeaways that defense is hard to beat whatsoever so yeah
that would be right i would say with dan quinn you would get the best of both those worlds in
so many different ways than what you're just mentioning there i think for gus bradley he did
a phenomenal job with the colts defensive line in a lot of ways, helping them get after the quarterback, creating easy pressures for them,
and even in the run game, having them be attackers instead of just gap control guys.
And then in the back end, I don't think this defense was well prepared to be in that cover three and stuff like that,
but they were well suited for a lot more man match and a lot more man in general,
which they did more of than they did under Matt Eberflus. Now, under Matt Eberflus, they were able to sit in a lot of too high stuff and get a lot more man match and a lot more man in general which they did more of than they did under matt eberflus now under matt eberflus they were able to sit in a lot of too high stuff
and get a lot of turnovers which again i think this defense is more suited for with dan quinn
you kind of get that combination you're going to have more too high you're going to have more
turnover opportunities but there's also going to be a little bit more aggressiveness in some man
match opportunities and in some man opportunities and then that defensive line is going to be schemed to the best of his ability.
He does a great job at getting one-on-one situations for his best pass rushers,
like we saw with Gus Bradley this season.
So, yeah, I think Dan Quinn can really, really do a great job with this defense
if he were to become the head coach.
Again, that's not really the concern with him.
That's not really the concern whatsoever.
But he and D'Amico Ryans, who we're going to talk about later this week,
are the two guys who I think could take this Colts defense from, you know,
that fringe top 10 unit that they kind of have been the last couple years
and turn them into a perennial top two, top three unit,
as long as they keep a lot of players.
Yeah.
I mean, it would be a shame to let that defense go to waste, you know,
moving to a whole different scheme. So in that, in that instance, it would be great to
keep the talent they have in house humming and in their, their prime. Well, there you have it.
The unequivocal rankings of the Colts of the Colts interviews so far, at least the guys we've
talked about definitely stay with us for the next week.
We've talked about six guys.
We have six more so far.
Like we've said, the head coaching search just keeps changing by the day.
We've still got guests lined up to talk.
Ejiro Evero, D'Amico Ryans, Eric Biennemi, Shane Steichen, Mike Kafka, Wink Martindale.
We've got more information coming on all those guys.
So definitely stay with us over the next week or so.
Absolutely.
Make sure you guys are following us on Twitter at LockedOnColts,
at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachHicks2.
Also subscribe to the LockedOnColts podcast on YouTube,
wherever you listen to your podcasts.
We love your guys' ratings and reviews.
You guys have been hitting that follow button a lot on YouTube,
and it's been awesome for us.
And thank you guys for making us your first listen of the day.
For your next listen,
check out the Locked On NFL podcast.
Bring you the local insights that you love
to the national spotlight
with daily conversations
and the biggest NFL stories.
Locked On NFL, available on YouTube
wherever you get your podcasts.
We'll see you guys tomorrow.