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The Dallas Cowboys are starting fresh yet again, while they watch the Washington Commanders head to the NFC Championship game with their former defensive coordinator as their head coach.
Washington’s rivalry with Dallas goes back multiple decades — and last year at this time — the Commanders were coming off a four-win season, had just sold the franchise and were looking for a new head coach and general manager.
It felt like a massive rebuild ahead to erase decades of dysfunction, drama and losing under the ownership of Dan Snyder and the toxic culture he built.
The Commanders ultimately hired former 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters, who helped new owner Josh Harris and a team of executives find their next head coach.
They ultimately landed on Dan Quinn, who had spent the previous three seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys. He was the architect behind turning the Dallas defense from one of the worst in the NFL into one of the best. The Cowboys finished with a top five defense in the league during Quinn’s time as DC.
Prior to his time in Dallas, Quinn was the head coach for the Atlanta Falcons and led them to a Super Bowl. They famously blew a massive first half lead to eventually lose to Tom Brady and the Patriots, but Quinn’s reputation around the league was unmatched. He wasn’t touted as an X’s and O’s genius, but instead, a leader that could form meaningful relationships with his players, develop a strong locker room and implement a standard his team wouldn’t compromise.
And in just one season, as the rival Dallas Cowboys look to restart yet again with a new head coach, Quinn — and the excellent staff he assembled — have completely transformed the Washington Commanders.
They pulled off one of the most unexpected upsets of the year on Saturday, knocking off the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions to advance to the NFC Championship for the first time since 1991.
Dallas now owns the longest NFC title game drought of any team in the conference. Every other NFC team has played in at least one conference title game since the Cowboys last appearance in 1996 when they beat the Green Bay Packers.
In a conversation on ESPN’s postseason NFL Countdown on Sunday about the Cowboys head coaching search, former New York Jets head coach and current analyst Rex Ryan threw out a current assistant on the rival Commanders that he says to keep an eye on for the Dallas job.
“Watch out for Anthony Lynn,” Ryan said. “Let me tell you, Anthony Lynn is a way better coach than people give him credit for. He did a really good job with the Chargers and I think some people forget that. He had a winning record as a head coach with the Chargers, and I’m just going to tell you, Jerry is going to be comfortable with him, he was with that organization for a while I think that is important.”
Ryan went on to say that Lynn would be able to handle the pressure that comes with coaching the Dallas Cowboys and then pointed out his contribution to the Commanders offensive success this season.
“Anthony would know what he’s getting into and he is a dang leader of men. I think he’s one of the finest coaches in the NFL, we see the difference with that football team, and it’s not just Kliff Kingsbury. Anthony Lynn is in charge of that run game and believe me, they will play hard for Anthony Lynn.”
Lynn currently serves as the running backs coach and run game coordinator for the Commanders. He’s helped lead Washington to have the No. 3 rushing offense in the NFL, averaging 154.1 yards per game this season.
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