Tag: Tom Quinn

Deeper dive into Patriots’ 2024 special teams coaching staff

Here’s a closer look at the Patriots’ 2024 special teams coaching staff

As the New England Patriots gear up for the upcoming NFL season, all eyes are on their revamped special teams unit, which found itself ranking amongst the worst in the league over the last two seasons.

Recognizing the critical need for a turnaround, the Patriots have embarked on a bold mission to revitalize their special teams by assembling a fresh and innovative coaching staff.

With a roster brimming with new ideas and diverse experiences, these specialists are poised to breathe new life into a unit that will no longer have Matthew Slater leading the way.

Let’s dive into the Patriots’ new-look special teams coaching staff, led by rookie coordinator Jeremy Springer.

Titans interim ST coordinator Tom Quinn talks philosophy, who the holder is

Tom Quinn addressed the media on Thursday for the first time since taking over for Craig Aukerman.

The Tennessee Titans have an interim special teams coordinator for the final five games of the season, with special teams assistant Tom Quinn taking over for recently-fired special teams coach, Craig Aukerman.

This isn’t Quinn’s first foray into being a special teams coordinator. He served as the New York Giants’ from 2007-2017, and in total he has 32 years of coaching experience in different roles between college and the pros.

Quinn has a tall task in trying to turn around the Titans’ special teams, which were horrendous in Week 13 and average, at best, throughout Aukerman’s tenure.

However, if he can get some improvement out of the units, it could lead to him keeping the job in 2024.

On Thursday, Quinn met with the media for the first time and talked about how his first days at the helm have gone, and what the plans are for the practices to follow.

“So, I obviously came in Monday, made the corrections and moving forward,” Quinn said, per Jim Wyatt. “We had really good meetings and practice (on Wednesday) — more of a walkthrough, so we could install — and we’re excited to get on the grass and work with some speed and work with our pads on so we can work on our techniques and fundamentals.”

Quinn revealed that the job will be a two-man effort for now. He, along with special teams assistant Anthony Levine, will be running things in tandem. Quinn also noted that their philosophies are the same.

“Me and Levine, we’re pretty similar, kind of cut from the same cloth,” he said. “We like to keep things simple so we can play fast and physical.”

On top of the back-to-back blocked punts, the Titans also had a mishap on an extra point with replacement holder Ryan Tannehill that proved to be crucial.

Quinn said that new punter Ty Zentner, who was signed on Wednesday, will be the holder moving forward. In addition, new practice squad linebacker JoJo Domann and running back Jonathan Ward are in line to be personal protectors on punts if tight end Josh Whyle (knee) can’t play.

Seeing as how things got screwed up when Tannehill came in as the holder, Titans beat writer Paul Kuharsky rightly asked how often the backup holder gets opportunities to practice the job.

Quinn said that happens once a week to once every couple of weeks, which is something the Titans may want to rethink after what transpired on Sunday.

When pressed further on his answer, Quinn explained why.

“We (practice with the backup holder) once a week, once every couple of weeks. And sometimes it changes based on what the roster is; who you’re backup snapper is, backup returner is and all that,” Quinn said. “We snap everyday with the emergency snapper. Sometimes with the holder, we get him once a week. We just try to mix it in. Nick [Folk] only has so many kicks in his leg, so we’re trying to protect him with that. It’s not like he can just kick another four, five, six balls.”

We’ll get our first glimpse at the Quinn-led Titans special teams when Tennessee takes on the Miami Dolphins on Monday night.

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Report: Giants not expected to retain Tom Quinn

The New York Giants are not expected to retain long-time assistant coach Tom Quinn under new head coach Brian Daboll’s staff.

Tom Quinn has been a longtime member of the New York Giants coaching staff, but it looks like his time with the team has come to an end.

The Giants are not expected to keep Quinn on Brian Daboll’s new staff, according to Zack Rosenblatt of The Star-Ledger.

Despite Thomas McGaughey staying on as the Giants special teams coordinator, Quinn is not returning to the Giants and will have to look for work elsewhere in 2022.

Quinn initially came to the Giants back in 2006 as the assistant special teams coach and then was promoted in 2007 to the special teams coordinator under Tom Coughlin.

Quinn was part of the two Super Bowl teams in 2007 and 2011 and remained as the special teams coordinator until 2017 on Ben McAdoo and then Steve Spagnuolo’s staff.

In 2018, Quinn remained with the Giants when Pat Shurmur took over as the head coach and went back to his initial role with the team, which was assistant special teams coach when McGaughey took over. Quinn remained on staff when Joe Judge was hired in 2020 as well.

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2017 Giants had one of worst special teams units of the decade

The 2017 New York Giants fielded one of the worst special teams units of the decade both statistically and analytically.

For years, fans of the New York Giants griped over their special teams units, which regularly appeared to be among the worst in football. And in 2017, that reached a head when the team fielded one of the worst units of the decade.

Under Tom Quinn, the 2017 Giants finished dead last in Pro Football Focus’ special teams rankings and were statistically among the worst in the NFL.

But the Giants weren’t just bad in 2017, they were dreadful. In fact, using Football Outsiders’ analytical formula, they were among the very worst of the decade.

5. 2017 Denver Broncos (-7.4%)
4. 2017 Los Angeles Chargers (-7.5%)
3. 2017 New York Giants (-7.5%)
2. 2010 San Diego Chargers (-10.2%)
1. 2013 Washington Redskins (-12.0%)

The Giants briefly parted way with Quinn following the 2017 season, but he returned shortly thereafter to serve as an assistant to Thomas McGaughey, who had been dealing with some health issues.

The Giants also parted ways with punter Brad Wing after that season, and he has yet to return to the NFL since. And while kicker Aldrick Rosas did hang on and had a Pro Bowl year in 2018, he fell back to earth last season and now faces a slew of issues after an alleged hit and run.

The good news is that the Giants have completely overhauled their special teams unit in a short amount of time and were among the league’s best a season ago. Now under first-year head coach Joe Judge, who cut his NFL teeth as a special teams coach, they are expected to be even better.

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Report: Scott Cochran tried to get job with Giants

Before departing Alabama and joining Georgia, Scott Cochran reportedly tried to land a job with Joe Judge and the New York Giants.

When Alabama’s long-time strength and conditioning coach, Scott Cochran, up and left for Georgia, many members of the Crimson Tide and their fan base had their jaws hit the floor. To them, it was a stunning development.

However, Cochran had become obviously frustrated in recent years and made his desire to become an on-field assistant abundantly clear.

That wasn’t happening under Nick Saban, so Cochran went out on his own in an attempt to find an on-field job, even if it meant taking a substantial pay decrease. And before landing with the Bulldogs, he made several other stops around the country, including East Rutherford, New Jersey.

John Talty of The Birmingham News reports that Cochran tried to get a job with the New York Giants, where former Alabama assistant Joe Judge had recently been named head coach.

Saban, meanwhile, had concerns about numbers and results from a strength and conditioning standpoint and wanted tweaks made to the program. Sources said Saban began “riding Cochran mercilessly in front of staff.”

At this point, Cochran was even more determined to find an on-field opportunity elsewhere. Cochran pursued job opportunities with Michigan State and the New York Giants but neither worked out, per sources.

Cochran’s name did not come up while Judge was compiling his coaching staff, but it’s clear there was at least some communication between the two. Why things did not work out however, is another mystery.

Ultimately, Cochran was hired as Georgia’s special teams coordinator, which is the on-field role he so desperately desired. Meanwhile, Judge kept Thomas McGaughey on staff as the Giants’ special teams coordinator, also bringing back Tom Quinn as the assistant special teams coach.

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Tom Quinn appears to be sticking with the Giants

New York Giants head coach Joe Judge seemed to imply on Friday night that Tom Quinn will remain with the team in 2020.

The New York Giants officially announced the hires of defensive coordinator/assistant head coach Patrick Graham, offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey on Friday night, but said announcement came with an interesting quote courtesy of head coach Joe Judge.

While praising McGaughey and explaining why it was so important to keep a guy like him around, Judge appeared to imply that assistant special teams coordinator Tom Quinn will also remain in place.

“I’ve known T-Mac from going against him as well as being in the business and I have a good relationship with him professionally and personally,” Judge said, via team release. “I have a lot of respect for him as a coach and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a person. He gets the most out of his players. I’ve competed against him and I knew it was always going to be tough sledding in the game there.

“From the perspective of having to go against him, you understand you don’t want to get him out of the building; you want to hold onto guys like that. They’re definitely key assets. He and Tom Quinn do an outstanding job of working together, coaching the players in techniques and coming up with schemes for game plans that allow them to apply pressure on the opponents.”

Quinn originally joined the Giants in 2006 as an assistant to special teams coordinator Mike Sweatman and was promoted to special teams coordinator in 2007, where Thomas McGaughey ironically served under him until 2010.

Quinn remained in place until 2017 when the Giants re-hired McGaughey as the coordinator, but his departure was extremely short-lived. Due to some health-related concerns McGaughey was dealing with, the Giants re-hired Quinn as his assistant just five months later.

It’s been a strange journey for Quinn, but somehow, he’s managed to survive for nearly 15 years. And by all accounts, that will continue into 2020.

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