Cowboys' fan favorite throws Dan Quinn under the bus with Mike Zimmer praise

When the Dallas Cowboys landed Dan Quinn as their defensive coordinator, there's no question he was a gift from the football gods to this organization. The Cowboys' defense went from being absolutely pathetic in 2020, allowing nearly 30 points per game, to ranking seventh in the NFL in points allowed in 2021. It was an overnight success, and Quinn deserves a ton of credit for the way he helped turn around that unit and maximize personnel.

But there were also some key issues with Quinn that can't be ignored. He was a little bit overly loyal to certain players through rough stretches of play. He completely miscast Mazi Smith in his rookie season and perhaps stunted his development significantly. Then there's the matter of what in the world happened in the playoffs the last three seasons...

Now, Mike Zimmer is in charge of calling the defense for the Cowboys, and players are starting to take note of the drastic difference in his approach and style. Zimmer wasn't always exactly beloved in his time as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, but he calls a good defense and knows how to teach the game.

And that's exactly what's been standing out to Cowboys second-year linebacker De'Marvion Overshown, a young player who could potentially be critical to this revamped Dallas defense. Overshown indirectly threw Dan Quinn under the bus a little bit with a recent statement he made about Mike Zimmer:

Cowboys' DeMarvion Overshown disses Dan Quinn while praising Mike Zimmer

"I like Zim, because he actually teaches us football. You feel it and you get a good grasp of everything going on with the defense. You know what the safeties [are doing] and what the D-line are doing in front of you, and it's easy to click with everybody.

I tell people all of the time that I'm excited to play for him. I've seen who he's coached, the defenses he's been a part of, and they've all been special. When you get to play for a guy like this, you wanna take everything that he says and write it down, make a mental note of it, because he's not telling you anything that's not gonna make you a great player in this league."

- De'Marvion Overshown (via Cowboys)

Overshown isn't maliciously slamming Dan Quinn, but this kind of candid comment from a player regarding a new coach can't help but be contrasted with the guy who previously held the job. Overshown may not have said Dan Quinn didn't teach football, but by saying that Zimmer "actually" teaches them football, he's perhaps implying that there was more Quinn could have taught the defenders to prepare them.

It's hard to speak ill of Quinn overall, quite frankly. The Cowboys have had the fifth-ranked scoring defense the last two seasons. The unfortunate aspect of his time in Dallas was the defensive performance in the playoffs. Deeper issues included perhaps some individual player development, but Zimmer undoubtedly has some big shoes to fill and some lofty expectations when it comes to certain things that have been highlighted about Quinn in a not-so-positive way this offseason.

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