Former Cowboys Head Coach Criticizes Dan Quinn After Exit
By Jovan Alford
The Dallas Cowboys got embarrassed in the playoffs last month by the Green Bay Packers, losing 48-32 at AT&T Stadium as the No. 2 seed in the NFC. Dallas’ offense struggled to put points on the board, while the defense led by Dan Quinn got punched in the mouth.
The Packers’ offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and ran the football right at the Cowboys’ defensive line. Simply put, it was a disappointing performance and one that caught the attention of former Cowboys head coach Dave Campo.
The 76-year-old Campo was the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator from 1995-99 before being named the head coach from 2000-02. On Thursday, Campo was on 94.1 FM San Antonio Sports Star and didn’t mince words about the team’s performance and former Cowboys’ DC Dan Quinn.
"From a culture standpoint… I’ll just say one thing this way. I know Dan Quinn very well,” Campo said (h/t RJ Ochoa of Blogging The Boys). “I was not in the office, in the building, I’m here in Jacksonville so I saw a bunch of the games. I saw that game. I’m going a little bit on some hearsay. But I think the one thing about Dan is he’s a fine gentleman and he’s smart and his scheme was okay, but he was a little bit too buddy-buddy I think with the players and that’s part of it. You can’t have a lot of accountability if you don’t stand a little bit above it of the people that you’re trying to get to be accountable."
Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Dave Campo on @SASportsStar on what he thinks the team needs and was lacking relative to the playoff loss against the Green Bay Packers:
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) February 16, 2024
“From a culture standpoint… I’ll just say one thing this way. I know Dan Quinn very well. I was not in the…
The former Cowboys head coach tried to soften his feelings about Quinn by saying he’s smart and a fine gentleman. However, Campo made it clear the former defensive coordinator was too player-friendly.
It’s tough to say that Quinn did or didn’t hold guys on defense accountable because they still were one of the better units in the NFL. Heading into the NFL playoffs, Dallas was ranked fifth in scoring defense (18.5 points per game allowed), 16th in stopping the run (112.4 yards per game allowed), and fifth in passing defense (187.4 yards per game allowed).
That said, even if you are the far superior unit/team, you can be beaten on any given Sunday. It just so happens that the Cowboys didn’t play up to standard in the playoffs after having another solid regular season.
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