Dan Quinn retained four Atlanta Falcons coaches from the 2014 season on his staff, including special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong, who enters his eighth season with the team.
The duo reunites on the same staff for the first time since serving on the Miami Dolphins coaching staff in 2005-06. Despite not working together since then, Armstrong has already given Quinn a head start when evaluating the Falcons roster.
" We've talked about personnel the last couple of days," Armstrong said. "Obviously, I've lived with people. I've lived with some of the (players), so I know some of their attitudes and the positives-slash-negatives, if you want to go there about that. So, you have to be open and upfront about what guys can and can't do, and it'll be beneficial to them."
Armstrong said, however, that he's been reserved in sharing opinions of players, instead wanting Quinn and the rest of the staff to develop their own opinions. When the Falcons coaches and personnel staff make their way to Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine, each will be evaluating the players from all angles, including how they test physically, psychologically, socially and more.
It hasn't even been two weeks since Quinn was hired as the Falcons head coach, yet he and his staff, including Armstrong, are already on the same page about what they're looking for in player evaluations.
"He wrote on a piece of paper and handed it to me (the other day) in a meeting, and he wrote 'speed' and underlined it and handed me the piece of paper," Armstrong said of Quinn. "So, I think he's in tune with it. He knows it. His philosophy is if you can run, whether you're a starter or a backup, if you can run, you can play on special teams."
