Kevin Tresolini

The News Journal

Dave Brock and Dan Quinn go way back.

Now Brock has joined Quinn’s efforts to take the Atlanta Falcons one step further after their recent Super Bowl defeat.

The former University of Delaware football coach was named an offensive assistant on the Falcons’ staff Friday.

Quinn, the Falcons’ head coach, and Brock are close friends, with Quinn, 46, playing at Salisbury (Md.) University when Brock, 49, was starting his coaching career there. The two later teamed up on Hofstra’s staff.

Though the Falcons announced Brock’s hiring, he was not able to comment, he said.

The Falcons lost 34-28 to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 at NRG Stadium in Houston. Atlanta led 28-3 after scoring with 8:31 left in the third quarter, only to see the Patriots produce the largest comeback in the Super Bowl’s 51-year history.

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Also joining Quinn’s Falcons staff Friday as assistant offensive line coach was Kyle Flood, who was also on the Hofstra staff with Brock and Quinn. He was later offensive line coach at Delaware under K.C. Keeler before moving to Rutgers as offensive line coach and then co-offensive coordinator. He then became Rutgers head coach from 2012-15. Brock was his offensive coordinator there in 2012.

Brock was fired as Delaware coach on Oct. 16, the day after a 24-17 loss at William & Mary left the Blue Hens with a 2-4 record, and replaced on an interim basis by defensive line coach/co-defensive coordinator Dennis Dottin-Carter. The Blue Hens were 19-22 in 3 ½ seasons under Brock.

Former Liberty and Richmond coach Danny Rocco was hired as Delaware coach Dec. 13.

Brock had touted the 2016 team as FCS playoff-worthy throughout the offseason and preseason, saying “I think we have the ingredients to be the team we want to be.” Ultimately, Delaware finished 4-7 for the second straight year, its first back-to-back losing seasons since the late 1930s, and extended its postseason drought to six years.

Quinn was a four-year starter on the defensive line from 1990-93 at Salisbury, where Brock was an assistant coach from 1988-90 and had helped recruit Quinn. The two later served five years together on the staff at Hofstra, where Brock was offensive coordinator and Quinn defensive coordinator when Hofstra won the Atlantic 10 title in 2000.

Quinn moved to the NFL the following season and, except for being University of Florida defensive coordinator in 2011-12, has been there ever since. He became Falcons head coach in 2015 after two years as Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator.

Brock left Hofstra after the 2001 season and coached at Temple (2002-04), North Carolina (2005-06), Kansas State (2007-08), Boston College (2009-11) and Rutgers (2012). He was hired as Delaware coach Jan. 18, 2013 by former athletic director Eric Ziady, with whom he had worked at Boston College.

Former Washington and Southern Cal coach Steve Sarkisian was recently named Falcons offensive coordinator after Kyle Shanahan, who previously held the post, became San Francisco 49ers head coach.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.