Quinn’s scheme has been 25th or worse each of last 3 years in opposing QB rating for the Falcons. Being a HC does not absolve him when it’s been that bad 3 years in a row. 4 years ago it was 19th.
Teams have figured out the cover 3.
When he had some talent on his defense, his defenses have been pretty good (like with most coaches). The question is whether the Joneses will give him the talent.
I'm a believer that success in football is at least 80 percent about talent. There's a reason that we haven't had much success on the defensive side of the ball since Garrett took over as head coach. despite multiple coordinators, while the offense has flourished at times. If we don't fix the talent gap, I'm not sure it's going to matter who we bring in as DC.
Now, that being said, the defense should not have been as bad as it was this year. That's on Nolan for not adjusting ... and that's why he's not here anymore.
Will Quinn go the same way? I don't know. But I do know he had some top-notch defenses when he had the talent. So I don't believe it is about teams figuring out the cover-3 as much as it is who you have manning the cover-3. If we go into it with Brown starting at one corner spot and Thompson starting at one of the safety spots, then we're doomed to having another bad defensive year. If Dallas upgrades both of those spots to pair with Diggs and Wilson, I think we'll see quite a bit of improvement in the secondary no matter what scheme we run. If we go into next season with Woods and Gallimore as our starting DTs, we're also liable to struggle, but if we get an interior player who can collapse the pocket consistently, then we're liable to see quite a bit of improvement on defense. Few teams succeed without talent. Some coaches do more with less, though, covering up some weaknesses, but none can turn untalented players into talent.