From Salisbury to NFL Sundays
This Dual-Sport D3 Athlete is Now an NFL Head Coach
The Washington Commanders take the field today in the 2025 NFC Championship against the Philadelphia Eagles.
They will not be the betting favorite to win and that’s ok - because they’ll be led by a head coach who knows all about being underestimated: Dan Quinn.
Before he became an NFL mastermind, Quinn played football himself.
But he wasn’t playing under the bright lights of Notre Dame or Ohio State. Nope. He was grinding it out as a dual-sport athlete at Salisbury University, an NCAA D3 school nestled on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Now, he’s one win away from leading the Commanders to the Super Bowl.
Here’s why Dan Quinn’s D3 to Pro story is one for the books:
D3 to NFL: No Easy Road
Back in the early ’90s, before all of the NFL coaching success, Dan Quinn was a force on the football field - and the track - for the Salisbury University Gulls.
Quinn’s teammate, Offensive Lineman Joe Darminio, lauded his toughness and phenomenal handwork, adding that “[h]e was known more for his bull rush, though, and…if he got his hands on you first, you were pretty much beat."1
Image via Salisbury Athletics
In addition to handling his coursework for his Elementary Education major, Quinn racked up HOF stats (he was inducted class of 2005) in both sports:
D-Line: 145 total tackles, two forced fumbles, and one ‘pick 6’ INT
Hammer Throw: [51.4m, 168-8], a school record which stood for ~20 years
While a student at Salisbury, Quinn met his future wife, Stacey (Class of ‘91), who was working as an athletic trainer. “The two have been supporters of SU ever since, creating three endowments, benefitting football, track and field, and athletic training.”2
The Making of a Defensive Guru
Quinn’s love for football didn’t fade when he hung up his cleats as a D3 athlete.
Instead, he channeled his passion into coaching, starting at William & Mary as a grad assistant working with the Defensive Line.
From there, he embarked on a football odyssey, bouncing through college jobs at VMI and Hofstra before breaking into the NFL as a defensive quality control coach for the 49ers in 2001.
Once in the NFL, Quinn continued to earn his stripes on the defensive side of the ball. Stops with the Dolphins, Jets, Seahawks, and Falcons molded him into one of the league’s sharpest minds.
Oh, and in case you forgot: Quinn orchestrated Seattle’s legendary Legion of Boom defense that won Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014 in dominant fashion (43-8 over the Peyton Manning led Broncos).
Safe to say, his D3 roots didn’t hold him back.
The Commanders' Revival
When Quinn took over the Washington Commanders, the franchise was a perennial loser in desperate need of a cultural overhaul.
Enter Quinn, a coach who knows how to rally underdogs and turn doubters into believers.
In just two seasons, with the support of a new ownership group and the likely Rookie of the Year at QB, he’s transformed Washington into a defensive powerhouse.
He’s also set a number of franchise 1st’s on this current run:
1st Washington Coach to win a playoff game since HOF’er Joe Gibbs (2005)
1st Coach in franchise history to win a playoff game in his first season as head coach of the franchise in the Super Bowl Era
1st Coach to win a playoff game in their first season with the team since 1943 (Dutch Bergman)3
His reward for all this: He faces one of the NFL’s toughest tests, a road game against the defending NFC Champs - the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s a clash of styles, but we won’t be counting Quinn & the Commanders out.
If there’s one thing he knows, it’s how to thrive when the odds are stacked against him.
Why It Matters
Dan Quinn’s journey is a testament to the power of grit. He didn’t come from a football factory. He didn’t have a fast track to the NFL. He worked, learned, and proved that even a D3 athlete can rise to the pinnacle of the football world.
So, when the Commanders take the field today, remember this: their coach isn’t just chasing a championship—he’s carrying the dreams of every small-school D3 athlete who’s ever been told they weren’t good enough.
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