Dan Quinn sat front and center in the Washington Commanders' press conference room -- general manager Adam Peters to his left and Managing Partner Josh Harris to his right -- with a burgundy "W" pinned to his chest and smile on his face as he looked out at the scores of coaches, staff members and reporters who had come to see him begin the franchise's next chapter.

Getting a second chance, even for someone with as stellar of a reputation as Quinn, is more of a hope than a guarantee in the NFL. Quinn turning the Seattle Seahawks' defense into an all-time great unit led to him being hired as the Atlanta Falcons' head coach, but once he was relieved of those duties in 2020, he had to wait another four years for that opportunity to come knocking again, despite his successes as the Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator.

Quinn, however, never gave up on the possibility that he would get another shot to lead a franchise. It's why he took a full "360" perspective to find "potential blind spots" on why things turned sour in Atlanta. Because being a coach is all he's ever wanted to do.

"I've loved football my whole life coming up," Quinn said during his introductory press conference. "I knew that's what I wanted to do."

For most people, it can take a while for them to discover what they want to do in life, and few of them achieve that goal. They go to college with lofty hopes and change their minds a few times before settling on something that may or may not have anything to do with what they originally had in mind. That was not the case with Quinn; he had a singular mindset that didn't waver from the moment he stepped onto campus at Salisbury University, and for those who knew the former Sea Gulls defensive lineman, it's not a surprise that he ended up coaching in the sport's highest profession.

"The guy does what he loves," said Charley Whalen, Quinn's former Salisbury teammate. "And if you do what you love, you live richly, regardless of what you're paid. And candidly, I don't think Dan would have to be paid a dollar to do what he does."

Quinn doesn't plan on wasting his second chance at being a head coach. His approach is not going to be a carbon copy of what transpired with the Falcons. He wants to take the lessons he learned, apply them with the Commanders and show that he's "a much stronger coach today than when I took over years back in Atlanta."

The core principles of Quinn's identity -- leading by example, encouraging competition and guiding players along the right path -- are not going to change. They were part of who he was as a player, and they will be integral pieces of his vision in Washington.

It's hard for Len Annetta to forget the first time he really got to know Quinn. The two had met before when they attended a football camp together at Rutgers during their high school careers, but with Annetta playing quarterback and Quinn on defense, they hadn't really had a chance to feel each other out.

That changed when Annetta, who was looking to transfer from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, was paired with Quinn on a visit to Salisbury. It didn't take long for Annetta to understand why the Sea Gulls' coaches chose Quinn -- a freshman -- to sell their message to him: his confidence, personality and approach to the game had a way of gravitating his teammates toward him.

"The coaches knew that Dan...would be the best ambassador for recruits," Annetta said. "He can just relate to anyone. He can talk your language. He just makes you feel comfortable around him."

As an athlete, Annetta said, it's easy to tell who really loves the game. "You have a lot of guys that just talk the game but don't walk the game." Quinn was an advocate for both, and it showed up on the field. He recorded 145 tackles, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception returned for a touchdown in his playing career. That kind of production is what earned him a spot in the school's Hall of Fame.

Quinn's teammates admired him for giving his all on the field, but that mentality carried over into all other aspects of his life. He pushed himself in the weight room, during the team's conditioning program and in the film room. His teammates noticed that, and it pushed them to be on that same level.

"If you wanted to be around Dan, you had to meet that standard," said former offensive guard Bruce Lesh. "You had to have that same kind of enthusiasm. You had to put forth the work ethic. If you're not, he's not gonna judge you, but he's gonna gravitate towards people who are willing and able and interested in putting forth the same effort."

Quinn also hated to lose, and unfortunately, the Sea Gulls struggled during his four years. Although Salisbury has a history of competing for national championships, the program only won six games in Quinn's career.

That didn't change Quinn's approach to the game, though, and that earned his teammates' respect, too.

"He had integrity," Whalen said. "He was true to himself. He was true to his goals and objectives. He was focused."

Consistency has always been a valuable quality for Quinn. He knows it's not a "sexy" word, but there is a level of comfort that comes with knowing what you're going to get from a person.

"There's a comfort to saying, 'You can count on that dude. He's rock solid,'" Quinn said. "You know what you're gonna get on the best of days and the worst of days. I've always been drawn to people like that."

And for those wondering, leadership is a constant for Quinn.

"He just frames everything as a leadership challenge," Lesh said. "I think that's always resonated with me that it's not the particulars of what I'm doing; it's the challenge around leadership and how am I focusing my energies to lead in that particular instance.

"He can never not coach somebody up," Lesh added.

Every head coach brings their own unique approach to the job. For Quinn, that means using the massive video board in the lobby at the Commanders' facility.

Every day presents something new for the players and coaches to look at when they walk through the doors to start their day. Sometimes, there's a small writeup about some of the greatest players in franchise history -- Art Monk, Sonny Jurgensen, Joe Jacoby and several more -- to educate them on the team's past and the standard they need to reach.

Other times, the messages are more simplistic. They feature phrases like "Finish!" or reminders of the value of hard work with pictures from the previous day's practice. It's nothing too complicated, but the signs are effective tools that help set the expectations for the day.

Providing those reminders, both for himself and the people around him, is a tactic that goes back to his own days as a player.

"Dan has all these coaching cliches," Annetta said. "He talks about the standard, and that's not an act. That is him, legit."

Annetta and Quinn became close friends after the former officially transferred to Salisbury. They eventually became roommates, and it showed Annetta that Quinn really did live by the principles that he learned from football. Among all the things you expect to find in a college dorm room was a sign that hung above the door. The message was simple: "Play like a champion."

Quinn got the idea from the University of Notre Dame's football program, which has the same sign hanging on a wall at the bottom of a flight of stairs that leads to the field. That sign has its own unique history, and it's become an unofficial slogan for the program as many of its greatest players have passed it before kickoffs on Saturdays.

Quinn's version of the sign didn't have the same level of mystique, but it carried just as much significance to him and Annetta.

"He made that sign to put over the doorway," Annetta said. "We could touch it on the way out when we went to class or whenever we went downstairs. You had to touch the sign. But that was something he did ... Just remind yourself that whatever we're doing today, we're doing it like a champion."

There are a few reasons why the practice has remained part of Quinn's methodology. The right message can make someone pause and think about the meaning behind it. It also presents those looking at it with the chance to "choose the discipline for it."

"This is what you said you want to do. What are you doing to help get you there?" Quinn said. "That's opposed to, 'Okay, it's just a sign. I don't really notice it anymore, like a spot on the rug.'"

Annetta said the message served its purpose well.

"It was cool to have somebody that was also thinking that way, and that kind of held you accountable. It's really hard to describe, but I fed off that a lot as well."

Former offensive guards Lesh and Joe Darminio got to know two different versions of Quinn.

As a teammate, Quinn was the ideal definition of an ideal leader. Despite not playing much during his freshman year, Quinn established that reputation for himself early as someone players could rely upon. "He was an instant fit to the team," Darminio said.

Lesh and Darminio also saw plenty of Quinn's competitive side as well, and just like everything else in his life, he attacked every snap with intensity.

"The guy's got a high motor," Lesh said. "He's always going, and that's no different on the football field. There was never a point in time where Dan took a play off, took a practice off or a rep off. He was always going full speed."

Darminio summed up playing against Quinn with one phrase: tough to handle. His handwork was "phenomenal," and he combined that with impressive quickness and strength. He was known more for his bull rush, though, and as Lesh and Darminio could attest, "if he got his hands on you first, you were pretty much beat."

And when he did win the rep, he would give some parting words to the offense or whoever he matched up against.

"Dan could bring a little bit if he wanted to. I don't remember him bringing it at me," Lesh said with a laugh.

Most of what he said to his teammates was meant to lift them up, though.

"He was always constantly talking just to keep people motivated and focused and engaged," Lesh added.

One thing that was clear to Quinn's teammates: being around him meant that you had to match his enthusiasm. Lesh got an early lesson in that when they were going through rehab together for torn ACLs. Quinn was always looking for progress, even if it was a small amount. One more degree of flexion in his knee on one day than he had on the previous one was a victory. If he managed to get one more rep in to show that his back proprioception had improved, it was a good day.

"For him, everything is an opportunity for growth," Lesh said. "And everything is an opportunity for getting better."

Well, maybe not everything. There were some competitions that were just fun, or at least Quinn and his teammates' version of fun. Quinn and Annetta would play a game after going through Salisbury's summer conditioning program at 5 a.m. They would get in one of their cars and turn the heat on and see who could last the longest.

"We'd sit there for like 40 minutes, but neither of us were gonna give up," Annetta said.

Quinn said they never kept records, but the loser was indicated by whoever rolled down their window first. If the rumors are true, however, there was one who emerged from the makeshift sauna more often than the other.

"I don't think Lenny ever won," Lesh said.

Quinn's teammates weren't shocked when they learned he was pursuing a career in coaching. After all, he had made that clear from the start that he was going to stay on that path. There were also signs even then that he was going to achieve that goal.

Quinn and Annetta's free time wasn't always filled with trying to outlast the boiling heat in each other's car. When they weren't at practice, they were watching college football games. Their Friday and Saturday nights were filled with watching Mountain West and Western Athletic Conference games on ESPN, and they would go back and forth trying to guess what teams would do in certain situations, along with fanaticizing about what they would do if they were the offensive and defensive coordinators.

"He is like, 'Here's the situation: third-and-4, they're on the right hash and they're down six. What do you call here?' He would challenge his roommates," Annetta said.

Quinn would listen to their suggestions before saying, "Yeah, maybe you're right." Then the ball would snap on the television screen. Sometimes they would call it right, and other times it would be slightly off. So, then Quinn's roommates would challenge him, and that would go on and on until the game was over.

"He always knew what he wanted to do and had that vision of what it would take to get there," Annetta said.

As a young player, Quinn was certainly watching how his counterparts handled themselves in situations. He peppered his teammates with questions on the intricacies of their positions. He would watch them run routes and learn what they had to do to get open.

Most of it came from pure curiosity, but he also wanted to get a clearer picture of the sport.

"I knew I wanted to coach, and I had this small experience of being a defensive lineman or a linebacker," Quinn said. "So, I wanted to like, have a bigger vision of what that would look like."

Quinn also paid attention to how the coaches did their jobs, whether it was trying to channel some of the energy Bill Parcells brought as the team's head coach or adopt Salisbury head coach Joe Rotilini's consistent attitude. His teammates knew that if he saw something that was going to help him achieve his goal, he was going to ingratiate it into his lifestyle.

"He loved the game," Darminio said. "He was a heck of a lot more serious than a lot of us were. He had something in his head of what he wanted to do and that's how Dan is."

The Commanders are likely to welcome a packed crowd when they host the Giants during the home opener to the 2024 season in Week 2. Among the thousands of fans wearing burgundy and gold will be a small group of Quinn's former Salisbury teammates, who have continued to support him throughout his coaching career.

"We're looking forward to it," Darminio said. "It'll be cool to be able to root for him here. A lot of people ask, 'Who do you root for?' And I say, 'Well, it's the Ravens, Eagles and whoever Quinny is.' That's just the way we are, and he treats us very well."

Quinn's former teammates prefer the backseat when it comes to being in his corner. They'll root for him as he lives out his dream, but they don't want to bother him too much with requests or constant communication. However, they are there for him whenever he goes through some difficult times, like when he was let go by the Falcons.

"That's the first time I've ever seen him fail," Darminio said. "I don't know that fail is the right word. I think in his mind, it was. I think he learned a lot from that. I know he worked his ass off after that happened and trying to figure out why and what he could do differently."

Quinn hasn't been shy about failing to put it together with the Falcons, although he did coach them to a Super Bowl appearance in 2017. The time between his first and second chance at being a head coach was a valuable opportunity for him to turn over every stone to see what he could improve.

And Quinn will certainly use some different approaches during his tenure in Washington, but the core of who he is, both as a coach and person, isn't going to change.

"Calling him just a coach does not fully encapsulate Dan Quinn as a football person," Whalen said. "He coaches in a way to get out of his players what he knows is there."

Lesh knows that Quinn "lives and breathes the sport of football" because he's seen that energy for himself. He watched as Quinn became a two-time captain, represented the embodiment of the culture at Salisbury and played with the same attitude regardless of the score. He has firsthand experience in how infectious that approach can be, and he knows Washington is going to feel it, too.

"What you're gonna get is a guy that is fully committed to success on all levels," Lesh said. "Success in wins and losses; success in putting forth an organization that is aligned to a standard; and everybody moves towards that standard."